Trays for dogs

Forthglade has selected multilayer trays from RPC Bebo UK Corby for its revamped dog food range.

Forthglade's Life Stage Menu and Natural Menu for Dogs are freshly prepared foods for dogs featuring a high meat content. The food is sterilised and sealed in trays to provide a long shelf life. Such has been the interest in the products that Forthglade is also currently developing special own-label ranges for leading supermarkets.

Finding the appropriate packaging has been an important factor in the products success.

These are quality meals cooked in the tray, so it was essential that the packs could withstand the high temperatures of the cooling process, explains Bruce Palmer, Forthglade's chairman.

Equally important, they had to be convenient to handle, easy to open and convey a quality image on shelf.

In initial trials with trays from another supplier, the trays were unable to handle the high cooking temperatures, so Forthglade turned to RPC Bebo UK for a solution. RPC worked closely with both the customer and tray sealer manufacturer Proseal to develop an effective tray and seal that maximised shelf life and was easy to peel open. Consumer convenience is vital for success in this market, confirms Palmer.

The trays are thermoformed in polypropylene with EVOH providing an effective barrier against oxygen ingress. This provides an ambient shelf life of nine months. Trays are produced in both white and black for different products in the range.

The RPC trays have met all our requirements in terms of both practicality and on-shelf image and we are confident of continued success and growth for these products, concludes Palmer.