Floeter

About Retort Packaging

About Retort Packaging

Retort is the most reliable way to pack food & beverages preservative-free

What is a Retort Pouch?

Retort pouches are flexible plastic pouches which are packed with already cooked or semi-cooked food, sealed and subsequently sterilised to create food pouches that have a shelf life of up to 18 months with no preservatives and zero refrigeration. Retort pouches were invented by the US Army for storing military rations in the 1970s and have since revolutionized food and beverage packaging in the Ready-to-Eat packaged food segment.

Retort pouches are as durable as metal cans. They are four-layered pouches and manufactured with retort-specific films.

What makes a Retort pouch?

What is the Retorting process?

Retort is a processing method that uses heat and pressure to sterilize food. It is one of the most commonly used methods of thermal food processing and is popular with food producers across the world.

The process to pack food
in a retort pouch follows
three basic steps

• 01

  The food or beverage is prepared – fresh, cooked or semi-cooked

• 02

  The food or beverage is packaged and sealed in retort pouches

• 03

  The sealed pouches are placed in Autoclave machines (retort food processing machinery) and heated under pressure with steam or hot water at temperatures up to 121 degrees Celsius up to 30 minutes

The sealed pouch can also be re-heated in hot water or in a microwave before consumption.

What does the Retorting process achieve?

The Retorting process arrests any microbial growth, deactivates any enzyme action and ensures the shelf-stability of your product. The reduced processing time ensures that any food packed in a retort pouch retains maximum nutritional value, taste, aroma and flavour at the time of consumption.

Products processed in retort pouches were found to be fresher and have better taste and texture attributes (chewiness, firmness and hardness) compared to conventional canned products (Mohan, Ravishankar, Gopal & Bindu, 2005 in Retort Technology in Malaysian Food Industry, UTM 2012)

How is Retort beneficial to the F&B industry?

• No need to add preservatives

  No need to refrigerate

  Taste, flavour and aroma of packed food remains intact for up to 18 months

  Easy to handle, easy to open, easy to re-heat

• Large surface area for branding

  Smallest amount of packaging material required to pack same volume of product

  Reduced weight, storage space, and logistics cost

  Thin profile results in 47% reduction of processing time