Case-ready meat, retail-ready meat, or pre-packaged meat refers to fresh meat that is processed and packaged at a central facility and delivered to the store ready to be put directly into the meat case. [1] [2]
Case-ready meat, retail-ready meat, or pre-packaged meat refers to fresh meat that is processed and packaged at a central facility and delivered to the store ready to be put directly into the meat case. [1] [2]
Traditionally, most meat was shipped as primal cuts from the slaughterhouse to the butcher. Meat was then cut to commonly used cuts and packaged at the store or was custom cut for consumers.
Case-ready meat is cut and packaged at central regional facilities and sent to retail stores ready for placement in refrigerated display cases. Local butchering, cutting, trimming, and overwrapping the meat at retail stores is greatly reduced.
Advantages of the centralized master-packager preparation include: efficiency of centralized operations, tight quality control, close control of sanitization, specialized packaging, etc. [3]
Centralized cutting and processing of meats has the potential of reducing the shelf life of the cuts. Specialized packaging is needed to regain and even extend that shelf life.
Packaging includes tray, [4] absorbent pad (meat diaper), specialty plastic films, [5] etc. Oxygen scavengers and modified atmosphere packaging are used to keep the products visually appealing and consumer safe. [6] [7]
Control of temperature during the distribution cold chain is critical to meat quality and safety.
Food preservation includes processes that make food more resistant to microorganism growth and slow the oxidation of fats. This slows down the decomposition and rancidification process. Food preservation may also include processes that inhibit visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples after they are cut during food preparation. By preserving food, food waste can be reduced, which is an important way to decrease production costs and increase the efficiency of food systems, improve food security and nutrition and contribute towards environmental sustainability. For instance, it can reduce the environmental impact of food production.
A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday United States usage, however, "grocery store" is often used to mean "supermarket".
A grocery store (AE), grocery shop (BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, and is not used to refer to other types of stores that sell groceries. In the UK, shops that sell food are distinguished as grocers or grocery shops
A tray is a shallow platform designed for the carrying of items. It can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, paperboard, wood, melamine, and molded pulp. Trays range in cost from inexpensive molded pulp trays which are disposable and inexpensive melamine trays used in cafeterias, to mid-priced wooden trays used in a home, to expensive silver trays used in luxury hotels. Some examples have raised galleries, handles, and short feet for support.
A farmers' market is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or outdoors and typically consist of booths, tables or stands where farmers sell their produce, live animals and plants, and sometimes prepared foods and beverages. Farmers' markets exist in many countries worldwide and reflect the local culture and economy. The size of the market may be just a few stalls or it may be as large as several city blocks. Due to their nature, they tend to be less rigidly regulated than retail produce shops.
Convenience food is food that is commercially prepared for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have a long shelf life, or offer a combination of such convenient traits. Convenience foods include ready-to-eat dry products, frozen food such as TV dinners, shelf-stable food, prepared mixes such as cake mix, and snack food. Food scientists now consider most of these products to be ultra-processed foods and link them to poor health outcomes.
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments. A butcher may be employed by supermarkets, grocery stores, butcher shops and fish markets, slaughter houses, or may be self-employed.
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells. In many countries it is fully integrated into government, business, institutional, industrial, and for personal use.
Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf, or no longer on a supermarket shelf. It applies to cosmetics, foods and beverages, medical devices, medicines, explosives, pharmaceutical drugs, chemicals, tyres, batteries, and many other perishable items. In some regions, an advisory best before, mandatory use by or freshness date is required on packaged perishable foods. The concept of expiration date is related but legally distinct in some jurisdictions.
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the making of convenience foods. Some food processing methods play important roles in reducing food waste and improving food preservation, thus reducing the total environmental impact of agriculture and improving food security.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG) or convenience goods, are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, candies, cosmetics, over-the-counter drugs, dry goods, and other consumables.
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is the practice of modifying the composition of the internal atmosphere of a package in order to improve the shelf life. The need for this technology for food arises from the short shelf life of food products such as meat, fish, poultry, and dairy in the presence of oxygen. In food, oxygen is readily available for lipid oxidation reactions. Oxygen also helps maintain high respiration rates of fresh produce, which contribute to shortened shelf life. From a microbiological aspect, oxygen encourages the growth of aerobic spoilage microorganisms. Therefore, the reduction of oxygen and its replacement with other gases can reduce or delay oxidation reactions and microbiological spoilage. Oxygen scavengers may also be used to reduce browning due to lipid oxidation by halting the auto-oxidative chemical process. Besides, MAP changes the gaseous atmosphere by incorporating different compositions of gases.
Skin pack, or skin packaging, is a type of carded packaging where a product is placed on a piece of paperboard or in trays, and a thin sheet of transparent plastic is placed over the product and paperboard or trays. The printed paperboard/tray usually has a heat-seal coating. The plastic film is softened by heat and draped over the product on the card/tray. Vacuum is used to assist a firm fit. The film bonds to the heat-seal coating on the paperboard.
Vacuum packing is a method of packaging that removes air from the package prior to sealing. This method involves placing items in a plastic film package, removing air from inside and sealing the package. Shrink film is sometimes used to have a tight fit to the contents. The intent of vacuum packing is usually to remove oxygen from the container to extend the shelf life of foods and, with flexible package forms, to reduce the volume of the contents and package.
Food packaging is a packaging system specifically designed for food and represents one of the most important aspects among the processes involved in the food industry, as it provides protection from chemical, biological and physical alterations. The main goal of food packaging is to provide a practical means of protecting and delivering food goods at a reasonable cost while meeting the needs and expectations of both consumers and industries. Additionally, current trends like sustainability, environmental impact reduction, and shelf-life extension have gradually become among the most important aspects in designing a packaging system.
The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in practice it is extended to cover any aquatic organisms harvested for commercial purposes, whether caught in wild fisheries or harvested from aquaculture or fish farming.
Modified atmosphere/modified humidity (MA/MH) packaging is a technology used to preserve the quality of fresh produce so that it can be sold to markets far away from where it is grown, extend the marketing period, and to help suppliers reduce food waste within the cold chain. Commercial examples of MA/MH include sea freight of Galia and cantaloupe melons from Central and South America to Europe and North America ; transport of white asparagus from fields in Peru to markets in Western Europe ; and trucking of cherries from orchards in Turkey to supermarkets in the UK.
The terms active packaging, intelligent packaging, and smart packaging refer to amplified packaging systems used with foods, pharmaceuticals, and several other types of products. They help extend shelf life, monitor freshness, display information on quality, improve safety, and improve convenience.
Shelf-ready packaging (SRP) and retail-ready packaging (RRP) refers to the packaging of a product so that it is delivered to a retailer in packaging which is optimized for efficient stocking and sale.
A meat absorbent pad or meat pad, colloquially known in North America as a meat diaper, refers to the absorbent pad found in pre-packaged meats. Its purpose is to absorb the juices released from the meat during storage and transportation, helping maintain the meat's appearance and reduce spoilage. Case-ready meats almost always contain one or two meat absorbent pads which absorb and retain the juices, blood, and other fluids that seep from the meats, which can be messy, may leak, are often contaminated with bacteria, and are generally unsightly for the consumer.
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