Consumers’ hectic lifestyles, long working hours and a number of leisure activities has left them with little time to prepare meals from scratch. Therefore, an increasing number of consumers, especially the working population and students, are choosing the convenience of ready-to-heat meals. Ready-to-heat meals are pre-prepared meals that are only to be heated in the microwave oven or conventional oven before enjoying the meal. The market for time-saving ready meals is growing, however, consumers are picky in terms of what they eat and are demanding high quality and healthy options to meet the needs for their healthy, but busy, lifestyles.

Packaging for these kinds of meals has to be able to withstand heating in the microwave oven. Materials like PP and PP Chalk are ideal.

Opportunities:

• PP or PP Chalk – material that tolerates warming up in the microwave oven
  • PP Chalk is the sustainable choice as it is a mineral-based material that reduces CO₂ emissions by more than 40% compared to standard PP
• Portion pack – one portion sizes
• Clear lids for perfect product presentation
• Sealable for increased shelf life and easy transportation