Introduction
When the New Year ends, households and shops put various foods and items that are considered necessary during the Chinese New Year or the coming Spring Festival. These include bak kwa, Pineapple tarts and love letters and other biscuits, cookies and pastries are eaten by families, given by families to friends, relatives and business associates and offered to Gods at Temples.
However, how long does such delicacies last in terms of the CNY celebration’s freshness and compliance with food hygiene standards? Enter clamshell packaging. Because of its airtight approach and crystal clear window, clam shell packaging has become a favorite method used by both retailers and itself for preserving CNY snacks till the end of the festive month.
What is Clamshell Packaging
As its name suggest clamshell packaging are containers with a hinge that has a shell like appearance having two halves joined at the middle or spine. Typically fashioned from a transparent material, clamshells afford a near-total box-like protection to a piece and an absolute view of its contents at the same time.
The familiar types of clamshells include the regular two-piece clamshells, tri-fold, and quad-fold boxes. Contour welding or radio frequency welding is used to make the two halves of the bag as close as possible in order not to allow any access of air.
Why Clamshell Packaging is Suitable for CNY Snacks
Two main factors which pose a major danger to the shelf stability of CNY goodies include oxidation and moisture loss. Floral messages in form of love letters, kueh bangkit and other thin biscuits will turn hard and… simply crumble within the mouth when they are not properly preserved. On the other hand oxidation leads to increase of flavor reactivity in the products that contain oil and fats such as bak kwa and pineapple tarts developing what is referred to as rancid flavor.
The two parts in a clamshell box are tightly sealed, so it effectively prevents the entrance of air, light or moisture. Compared to flexible pouches, rigidity of the clamshells does not change with handling or stacking, thereby minimizing entry of factors that contributing to food spoilage. Your CNY goodies does not turn rancid in the very first week of CNY or even the first few days, it keeps well till the end of the CNY season.
Although not having any gaps or holes helps to keep the snacks as fresh as a garden, the ability to actually see what’s inside adds more assurance. It’s transparent, rigid and hard wearing, which allows visual quality judging at first sight: has your bak kwa started to become dehydrated at its outer rims or is the pineapple jam still moist and glistening?
Retailers are in a position to provide clear labels on the condition that the products bottled come in and the ingredients used in the preparation of such products. For the consumers, you can easily look for freshness indications when making choice for festive or auspicious products such as CNY hamper gifts or even goods for temples. Foreseeing all the risks helps avoid chief nuisances that stem from not being sure of what one is buying in the first place.
Stackable and Space-Efficient
Compared to other types of packaging clamshell greatly facilitates stacking that is, efficient storage and product display. This rigid box maintains its shape structure when stacked which is good when you have limited space to store it other than laying flat like a bag of bak kwa or loose biscuits.
Supermarkets can benefit from the festive season by using more shelf space, which will help address the increased demand during the period. Compact clamshell storage allows more stock pieces, especially when a vendor and home-based bakery needs to store more stocks in small space. The stackable boxes also provide attention catching graphic displays that will attract the shoppers’ attention.
The preservation of health is very important more so with the culture of sharing of edible CNY products such as halal goodies hampers among friends. Snack clamshells made from food-safe material to avoid polluting small foods with chemicals banned by health departments. Rigid plastic clamshells have no dyes or recycled material which, when in contact with oil and heat, may produce toxin leakage.
Consumers are assured by the tamper resistant of clamshell packaging. Customers just get assurance that the sealed box has not been opened or the contents have been tampered with. Really preserving your snacks in their manufactured state, from the producer all the way down to the consumer. Shield your customers as you shield your image and reputation from being dented in any negative way.
Portion and Presentation
Clamshell designs are particularly говорить appropriate for CNY delicacies that are normally sold in portions as gifts or for serving to visitors. Again, every box has the right portion for sharing or in-continual snacking, which is enough to hold 4-6 slices of bak kwa. Pre-sized portion promotes estimates of the quantities to be bought and minimizes wastage.
It is also neat from a home display perspective through to gift-wrapping. Crystal-clear plastic shells offer those delectable sneak previews of what is in store; the glazy red colour of bak kwa, the flowery biscuits, love letters with their multi-coloured delights. The smooth flat base also enables the box to be used a platter where the CNY cookies and snacks remain in pristine condition as guests take theirs.
Environmentally Sustainable
Although people earlier used to gift over-packaged products, there has been a positive change in the trend as people are becoming more aware of the environment. People want a reduced amount of plastic pollution without sacrificing usability and quality. Plastic clamshell boxes fulfills both conditions, using minimum of plastic by encapsulating only as much as air around the product rather than lots of free fills.
Since clamshell boxes can be used severally, the quantity that is disposed of yearly is also low. Finally, becoming end-of-life, rigid plastic clamshells are recyclable at the recycling facilities to get material value back, or not less than discarded single-used-packaging. Remember to look for statements such as PVC/BPA-free when trying to make the best decision.
Bring Your CNY Snacks in Clamshell-Fresh to the Table
During this Chinese New Year celebration, take home CNY goodies that come in clamshell boxes for ultimate freshness and quality for the entire season. It is pivotal to look for proper snap lock and vacuum seal, being food grade and environment friendly and having tamper proof along with see through when choosing the right pack of Chinese New Year Snack.
Bring out and present your bak kwa slices, pineapple tarts and butter cookies this season without qualm because clamshell boxes will preserve your treats as fresh as freshly baked in weeks. Saluting this Year of the Rabbit as everyone wishes for a prosperous new year!