To further develop its range of ready meals, Tops Foods also needed new packaging. The company has been working with Etimex Primary Packaging for some time and also turned to the experts for the new packaging.
Tops Foods is known in the EU market for high-quality, nutritious ready meals that also impress with their flavour. The Belgian company has already made a name for itself in the in-flight and retail market and is now conquering the healthcare market with a product innovation. In collaboration with two Belgian universities, Tops Foods has developed balanced ready meals with an optimum consistency for people with swallowing difficulties due to illness. These are now offered under the Nutrition for care brand.
For the new product development, the company is working with Etimex Primary Packaging once again has an important partner on board. This is because Tops Foods and Etimex have been working together successfully for many years. In addition Michael Tops, Managing Director of Tops Foods:
„Tops Foods values Etimex as a long-standing supplier. Etimex's expertise and support, combined with an open mentality and innovative thinking from the development process to the delivery of our products, is a real added value for us.“
The previous Tops Foods ready meals are already supplied in CPET and PP meal trays by the packaging manufacturer from Dietenheim. However, the newly developed product also brought with it new requirements. The new Packaging should be both recyclable and can be sterilised using Tops Foods' patented microwave technology, while meeting high shelf-life requirements to enable safe delivery throughout Europe.
Etimex took on several responsibilities in this project: Development work in Research & Development, the complete cost calculation and the design of the new menu tray. It quickly became clear that no new development was necessary. All requirements could be met with a solution that could be further developed on the basis of an existing Etimex product: a Mono PP menu tray. The existing menu tray simply had to be slightly deepened, so a new moulded part was developed for the Tops Foods trays. The advantage: an economically efficient development process in terms of time and budget.
Tops Foods was thus able to quickly drive forward the development of the new market and build up an interested distribution channel of pharmacies and pharmacies in a short space of time with its unique product range. Continuously rising sales figures confirm that Tops Foods has recognised a need and can meet it with a suitable, high-quality product - promising prospects for the future.
Source: Etimex
