Jeremy Haydn-Davies, Sales Director, says that ‘Sirane has been fortunate in having a reliable critical mass of supply and we have therefore been extremely busy fulfilling Christmas food packaging orders all across the board. Oven and grill based innovations are likely to figure as highly again this year for Xmas consumers and our Roast It and Cook It packaging technology has been deployed to good effect.

Meantime, as the Autumn chill sets in, Haydn Davies says that Sirane’s Fat Trap™ cooking product is seeing an uplift – not least from bars, restaurants, the food service sector and retailers for sale in-store.

‘Eating out – and convenience cooking – whether microwave or conventional – show no sign of slacking in today’s busy society,’ says Haydn Davies. ‘The Fat Trap™ is designed to allow fast cycling of grilling through a busy evening – without the need to clean grill pans after use”.

The thermally reflective surface of the Fat Trap™ grill liner ensures that all food is cooked evenly and quickly. During cooking the dripping from the grilled food is automatically absorbed and trapped inside the absorbent sheet. After cooking, the grill remains clean. In terms of waste the Fat Trap pad coating then can easily be removed for recycling while the Fat Trap absorber is totally biodegradable.’

Again, a simple design is key,’ he adds. The Fat-Trap is made by using proprietary machinery to combine aluminium foil onto a cellulose base - the two parts of which are fully recyclable and compostable. No adhesives, solvents or detergents are used in its making and all of Sirane’s cellulose materials are sourced from sustainable sources. For this grill-based product Sirane sees the UK market leading Europe but expects Continental purchasing to also gather pace, especially in France and other parts of Western Europe.

 
The Fat Trap™ is available from Sirane Ltd together with its sister product, the Fat Trap™ Rotisserie liner. These are principally used in rotisseries, hot-food display cabinets, breakfast buffets and other cooking and hot display units. Sirane's liner has been designed to soak up the fat whilst food is cooking or to absorb the fat when hot food is placed on it. Haydn-Davies says that ‘last Christmas we had a really urgent call from one of our customers with a real problem: They were cooking mini sausages for food service clients and had a lot of excess fat on their baking sheets, which made it dangerous to move the food when piping hot. We responded immediately delivering first samples then a full production run of our Rotisserie liner adapted in size to fit the baking sheet. The problem was sorted and the client was absolutely delighted. At last they had found a solution that - after cooking - they were able to pick up the sheet soaked with fat and dispose of safely with no risk to their staff.’

The Christmas market seems as competitive as ever – but creativity and true pack innovation continue to be rewarded at this time in the year.’ Haydn-Davies adds that ‘Christmas trade suppliers are also taking note of our film and bag making capabilities this year. Sirane’s Sira Cook bags are therefore set to figure in the 2010 seasonal mix.’

 
Sirane's Roast It™and Roast-it™ Supreme are the first oven-safe absorbent pads for 'direct to oven' packaged foods. These products are made without adhesives - a technology which Sirane specialises in and has deployed elsewhere in other kinds of its packaging. The two layer structure gives the Roast It(TM) range a distinct advantage in use, and in disposability and recyclability. Roast It's™ two main functions are to provide effective absorbency for the meat or fish on the shelf and also continuing and effective absorbency of hot liquid fat and juice emitted by the food during the cooking process itself.

 
The Roast It™ pads are made in Sirane's Telford-based BRC/IoP accredited facilities and are Rapra Technology-approved for direct food contact. Features include:

 
- A full range of absorbency levels- and tailor-made to client requirements
 
- Typical pad lengths can be made and supplied to suit.
 
- Shaped Roast It™ pads can also be supplied; either with top perforations or with Sirane's herringbone design

Sirane’s Cook It™ ovenable system has gone through several product generations since is was first developed for the Christmas 2007 market. At that time the supply side was working  from some 12 standard foil tray size combinations with just a single cavity. The Sirane Cook-it™ ovenable dividers changed the industry by sub dividing foil trays into two or more cavities. This allows attractive presentation and prevents cross-contamination between different foods presented in the same tray.'  

 
Sirane’s matrix of materials and manufacturing know-how made the Cook It™ innovation possible. The dividers can be sized, flexed and shaped - and can combine absorbency for another step-change solution in the tray - to suit the specific design and needs of the customer. And thanks to Sirane's proprietary heat seal technology - used on many other products such as the company's compostable Dri-Fresh® Resolve® materials - no glues are used in joining the metal film to the substrate. This enables the Cook It™ dividers to be sorted into two different material streams for recycling after use.
 

Comments Haydn-Davies, 'this year's Christmas market, will see our most creative use yet of Roast It™ and Cook it™ product range, as packagers continue to compete and innovate for the season.’

More info:
www.sirane.co.uk