The global market for ready-to-eat and convenience food continues to expand, driven by changing lifestyles and increasing consumer demand for practical, long-lasting meal solutions. Retort trays play a key role in this segment — ideal for ready meals, baby food, and pet food — allowing food manufacturers to offer safe products with extended shelf life, without the need for refrigeration.
Flexible packaging formats for retort food, such as pouches and tray lidding films, are gaining increasing popularity as a sustainable and lightweight alternative to traditional metal cans. According to recent market research, the global flexible retort packaging market — covering pouches and lidding materials — is expected to grow at an annual rate between 6% and 8% by 2030. This growth is fueled by consumers’ demand for convenient, high-quality food combined with environmentally responsible packaging solutions.
Why is recyclable retort packaging so challenging?
Developing recyclable packaging for retort applications is a true technological challenge. Packaging for retort food must withstand extremely harsh conditions:
- High sterilization temperatures (typically 121°C to 130°C)
- High pressure inside autoclaves
- Long processing times
- Preservation of sensitive products like baby food or pet food over extended shelf life
Traditional retort packaging often relies on multi-material structures (combining layers of plastic, aluminum, or other materials) to ensure the necessary barrier properties against oxygen and moisture — essential for food safety and product preservation.
However, these mixed-material structures are difficult to recycle because the layers cannot be separated in standard recycling processes.
This is why the development of recyclable, monomaterial solutions for retort packaging is such a breakthrough: it requires a perfect balance between functional performance (barrier, resistance, sealing) and recyclability, in compliance with food safety regulations.
Gualapack’s recyclable lids
Building on its expertise in sustainable flexible packaging, Gualapack is proud to introduce a new recyclable lidding laminate specifically designed for retort tray applications. Following the success of our Pouch 5 for hot-fill and retort applications, this new solution extends our commitment to sustainability to tray-based formats.
The new lidding material offers the robust performance required for retort processing while aligning with circular economy principles, thanks to its recyclable monomaterial PP structure.
Whether for ready meals, baby food, or pet food, brands can now combine product safety, consumer convenience, and environmental responsibility.
Ready to take the next step?
Contact Gualapack to learn more about how our latest recyclable lidding laminate can support your sustainability goals and product innovation.
