Vacuum packaging food using a vacuum packaging machine is something that can truly benefit you, your business, your family, and your customers – whatever your reason for vacuum packing your goods, you will find there are many benefits to it. Read on to find out exactly why using a vacuum packaging machine is a good idea.
Increased Shelf Life
We all know that fresh food is wonderful. It’s tasty, it’s easy to work with, and when it is locally produced it cuts down on air and road miles too. Yet it’s not always possible to use it all in one go – sometimes it needs to be frozen to be of use. This can damage the food, reducing its flavour, even ruining it entirely. However, when you vacuum pack the food you can freeze it easily, and when you defrost it again there will be no damage.
Not only that, but food that doesn’t need to be frozen can benefit too, increasing its shelf life to as much as 400 percent more than if you didn’t vacuum pack it. Think of the cost savings you can make as you won’t need to dispose of so much food. Plus, anyone eating the food that has been stored in this way will enjoy it just as much as if it was completely fresh. This is certainly a bonus, and something that, if you are providing food in a professional capacity, will set you apart – in a positive way – from your competition.
Reduced Product Loss
As mentioned above, the more food you can vacuum pack to store, whether as a precursor to freezing, or in the larder or pantry, the better. You will throw away a lot less of it, reducing food waste in your business, and showing your customers that you are environmentally aware.
There is another, more immediate, benefit for being able to store as much as possible. Your bottom line. When you can buy in bulk you will be saving money at the outset; it’s always cheaper to buy a large quantity of something. Using vacuum packaging to store what you don’t need means that you can use this cost saving device to your advantage, and never have to waste anything that you buy – you are effectively saving at both ends of the process. Plus, you can lease a vacuum packing machine, which might be a better option – at least to begin with – in terms of outgoings.
Protection
It’s true that you don’t have to use vacuum packing to seal your food in order to store it. However, when you do use this method, you are protecting the produce from any outside elements, ensuring that dust, bugs, moisture, or anything else does not touch the food. You’ll never have the disappointment of opening up a bag of potentially delicious food only to find that it is destroyed.
Not only does vacuum sealing remove any air from the bag, thus ensuring that it is solely the produce within and nothing more, but since the bags are around 3mm thick (with some as much as 8mm thick, depending on what you choose) nothing can penetrate them when they are stored, offering an extra level of protection.
Better Flavours
Chefs often find that sealing ingredients together in a vacuum packed bag will give their entire dish a better flavour. If using meat, for example, the natural juices within it can mix perfectly with any kind of herbs, spices, or marinades, giving a delicious taste when everything is cooked after being stored together.
Vacuum packing also means that you won’t need to resort to any kind of chemical preservatives in order to keep your food fresh. That allows the true taste to come through, and it will be better for your customers and those eating the food too.
Better Presentation
If you aren’t preparing the food yourself but are, for example, selling the ingredients separately, you can better present them in a vacuum sealed bag. Customers will know that the ingredients are fresh, but they will also be able to see them and make the decision for themselves. Being able to see food before buying it informs the process much more than if the food is sealed within something that is not transparent.
It’s Quick
The vacuum packing process is a quick one, especially when you have a routine going. The machines are easy to use, meaning that you can do a job that would have taken a long time by hand in moments, leaving you free to work on other aspects of your business without having to take time out to package goods.