Case Histories
Haerland Produkter AS, Norwegian Poultry Producer Extends Distribution and Boosts Innovation Thanks to CRYOVAC® Packaging
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By switching to Cryovac® modified atmosphere systems to pack a variety of poultry products, the leading Norwegian poultry processor Hærland Produkter AS achieved pleasing results. The new packaging prolongs the product shelf life significantly, thereby allowing the company to improve logistics and extend its distribution range throughout the long distances of Norway.
With a market share of about 70% in high quality poultry, Hærland Produkter A/S is one of the leading poultry processors in Norway. With its plant located in Hærland, 150 km from Oslo, the company employs 419 individuals in its processing business. The company achieved a turnover of NOK 530 million (US$ 59 million, EURO 64.5 million) in 2000 and has experienced a high growth in the past years. Hærland Produkter is wholly owned by Prior, a leading group involved in chicken farming, egg hatching and poultry slaughtering and processing. Hærland Produkter A/S is the group’s poultry processing plant.
For several years, Hærland plant management have focused on product development. Targeting on increased poultry consumption in Norway (from 8 kg per capita in 1998 to an anticipated 10 kg in 2000, compared with an average consumption of 15-20 kg per capita in Europe), Hærland intends to boost consumption by offering consumers an ever-increasing choice of innovative and convenient products adapted to their needs.
Hærland produces high quality, added-value chicken and turkey products, about 50% fresh and about 50% frozen. They include whole birds as well as a large variety of fresh cuts and processed cuts (marinated, spiced, cooked, breaded or cured), sandwich fillers, burgers, meat balls, minced meat, diced meat or sausages. Hærland products are primarily sold to supermarket chains.
"Our strategy is essentially based on product development", commented Finn Dalen, Product Development Manager for Hærland Produkter A/S. "To achieve this, we need specialist partners. Cryovac has the expertise in technology, equipment and packaging that we need to develop new products". The company launched 35 new products in 1994 and 45 in 1995. Today, two presentations are organized annually to introduce the many innovations to the industry and market.
Cryovac was first approached in 1994 by the Hærland management, who were invited to Denmark to examine the Cryovac poultry solutions. In 1995, the poultry processor adopted the CRYOVAC BDF® 550 film, which was recently replaced with the latest generation CRYOVAC BDF® 750 shrink film. By switching to modified atmosphere, Hærland was looking to increase its products’ shelf life of 3-4 days. In Norway, distances can be overwhelming and shelf life is of prime importance for a fresh food distributor. As retailers expect processors to pack their products, Hærland realized that high-performance packaging had become a key objective.
CRYOVAC BDF® 750 is a barrier shrink film designed for tray over-wrapping meat and poultry cuts under modified atmosphere on dedicated horizontal form-fill-seal (HFFS) machines. This technology involves a barrier package that is flushed with a gas mixture to preserve product quality and delay the growth of micro-organisms, extending shelf life by several days. The clear and transparent film provides a leak-proof, abuse-resistant package, while offering the traditional appealing, backstore presentation resulting in highly attractive packages. The concept is highly flexible as it can be adapted to a number of tray sizes and machines.
By the year 2000, Hærland had already acquired two ILAPAK machines dedicated to the BDF process.
"We are very pleased to work with Cryovac", added Finn Dalen. "They provided an excellent understanding of the entire packaging process (machinery, gas mixture, film) along with reliable service and on-site training. They also resolved many of our problems and contributed to our product development strategy. We could never have done it without the help of Cryovac!".
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