Case Histories
Gastronome Revolutionizes Poultry Retail Cases
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GASTRONOME is number two in the French poultry industry. The group integrates all activities of the poultry business, from egg hatching to added-value consumer products. From the start the company has focused on the quality of farming (feeding, methods of farming, animal origins) to generate an end product of top notch quality, be it whole poultry, cut-ups or value-added products.
In France as in the rest of Europe, the poultry market is currently highly competitive and profitability is limited. To ensure and maintain a leading position, the company focuses on strong brands and develops high value-added products, such as breaded or cooked poultry cuts, as well as ground poultry burgers. Gastronome owes its development and growth to such innovative products, because they have contributed to rejuvenating the poultry self-service retail shelves.
To boost the poultry retail cases and make them as appealing as, for example, the smoked & processed meat shelves, Gastronome was looking for a modern packaging that would secure reliable shelf-life. To this aim the company began working with global packaging specialist Sealed Air Cryovac.
The Solution
Following a series of meetings and brainstorming sessions, Cryovac developed and suggested the Darfresh® Double Deck microwaveable concept, a modern and novel packaging perfectly adapted to the needs of consumers and large retail. This packaging fulfils all the requirements established by Gastronome. The Darfresh vacuum packaging ensures long shelf-life, eliminates drips and allows vertical presentation on the retail shelves. The Double Deck concept enhances product communication such as is required in self-service retail distribution.
The Darfresh Double Deck innovation by Cryovac is revolutionary. The concept combines the well-known benefits of Darfresh vacuum packaging - namely a skin film ensuring maximized product protection while eliminating drip - with a printed lidding film, with or without window, for product communication. Thanks to easy opening features, both films can be opened in one single gesture. Such packaging offers the combined benefits of protection, transparency and communication.
The Gastronome management were very enthusiastic with this new retail concept. "A packaging process able to revolutionize the retail shelves is what the poultry segment needs for the future", explained Marketing Director Pascal Lebert. This is why the company adopted the Darfresh packaging in 2004 to pack two product lines under the flagship brand "Douce France": poultry cut-ups (breasts, legs, fillets, stuffed wraps and diced poultry), replacing trays and traditional stretch film, as well as the brand-new poultry burgers. For this healthy and tasty but fragile product, vacuum skin packaging is ideal for efficient shelf management because it guarantees long shelf-life.
The Benefits
The first benefit of the new packaging is prolonged shelf-life, which helps secure product quality for the consumer and provides flexibility to the processor as inventory and orders management at retail is under increasing time constraints. This solution also helps avoid out-of-stocks at the point of sale.
For retailers, the new packaging helps renew the self-service poultry shelves, which have been untidy and unappealing. With Darfresh Double Deck, Gastronome refreshes and rejuvenates poultry cases, providing them with enhanced security and consistency. With a packaging that prevents drip loss, the more attractive, convenient and cost-effective vertical presentation is now possible.
For consumers, Darfresh Double Deck is modern and convenient, it provides useful product information and is very easy to use. The pack is easier to open than traditional stretch overwrap. The large area made available for product communication and visibility allows consumers to be well informed.
Results and future developments
Ten months after the launch, Gastronome plans to progressively replace the stretch overwrap with Darfresh Double Deck for all poultry cuts. This new offer is 10% more expensive than the stretch alternative, but is slowly and regularly gaining market shares. For the poultry burgers, a brand new product, the success is even greater than anticipated. Both these products are available in all major retailers, including the leading chains.
In the near future, thanks to the microwaveability of Darfresh, Gastronome will develop its line of fresh poultry cuts, introducing marinated products to be cooked in the microwave - perfectly in line with new consumer trends - and the poultry burger line, under the new name "Steaky's", will be expanded with new recipes such as poultry and tomato burgers.
Gastronome was extremely happy with the packaging concept and technical implementation. "If we want to maintain our leadership and if Europe wants to counter the poultry products coming in from the rest of the world, we must multiply our innovations and turn the poultry cases into modern self-service retail shelves. Product innovation also means packaging innovation, and Darfresh Double Deck fits perfecty into this strategy", concluded Pascal Lebert.
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