Standup pouches have been ruling the roost in the food and beverage packaging industry from past couple of years. When it comes to perishable food items like beef jerky, a different type of pouch called a flat barrier bag is used.
Barrier packaging can be done in many ways:
- Vacuum packaging: In this method, all the air is sucked out of the package to keep the jerky fresh. While this is effective, the vacuum is lost as soon as the package is opened and the beef begins to deteriorate pretty fast if not used up in a single go. Also, this technique ruins the look of the package.
- Gas Flush: This involves blasting nitrogen gas into the barrier bag to drive out the oxygen. However, this requires expensive equipment and accurate calculations of the amount of nitrogen to be used, otherwise the jerky will rot down.
- Oxygen Absorbers: This technique is used by all the big players in the beef jerky market. Using an oxygen absorber sachet in jerky barrier bags does the same job of taking out the oxygen from the package without crumpling it or affecting the meat in any way. The jerky will remain fresh for a long time even after the package has been opened.