The operations of the food industry were put under the spotlight during the pandemic. The role that plastic food wrap played in the industry’s operations was already important to the speed and hygiene standards the food service demands, and plastic wrap is an integral tool in the industry that proved to be invaluable during the pandemic.
Food-grade plastic wrap is a lightweight, durable barrier that preserves the freshness of food and guards against contamination when food is being moved and handled. It also reduces spoilage in an industry where the meals enclosed by the wrap might not be consumed for many hours after they are prepared. The meals have to remain appetizing and safe to eat, sometimes under adverse conditions.
It's used widely on a daily basis in a wide variety of food service operations, including restaurants offering takeaway service, hotels, airlines, schools, charities, and hospitals. The wrap has already proved its worth in helping food last longer and providing a barrier against germs and bacteria. But when the pandemic happened, it was put to its ultimate test.
Commerce in the New Normal
The pandemic spread across the world, and many food service operations didn't really know at first how to cope with the chaos it caused. With the imposed isolation and mass quarantines it necessitated, they wondered if their businesses would even be able to survive. Walk-in traffic ground to a halt as governments around the world closed retail operations that weren’t strictly necessary. Airlines were grounded, and hotels stood empty. Businesses began sending their employees home to work. Students also studied from home, and the cafeterias that once bustled at lunchtime closed their doors.
Then the need for businesses to survive shed a ray of hope on the world. A few business owners realized that all those people locked down in their homes needed to be fed. The way to market their services was to adopt an online order-for-delivery business model. Pizza shops and fast food stores were the first to thrive under this not-so-new way of doing business. Fairly soon, every food service operation changed their methods of preparing and packing the food to conform to the needs of the new business model.
Preserving the Quality of Food
Throughout the pandemic, plastic food wrap was a constant, reassuring presence for both the food service industry and its customers. In the early day of Covid, people were unsure of how easily the virus could be spread. They knew that it was spread by contact. They wore masks around strangers and washed their hands religiously after they had touched items in public. But they needed to find out how long the virus could live outside a human host.
Plastic wrap was seen as a sensible precaution to take against an unseen virus. From the customer's standpoint, food deliveries could be handled by an unknown amount of people before they arrived on your doorstep. Any one of the workers could have Covid. The plastic wrap was seen as a hygienic, comforting step, and every little bit helped. It made customers feel better about ordering from restaurants that used it.
The food industry had a slightly different problem. With the avalanche of orders they were receiving on a daily basis, they had the problem of spoilage to contend with. They were often making more food than they could deliver on a timely basis, to try and keep up with the orders they were receiving online.
They often had to bring in more refrigeration units to store the prepared food until it could be delivered. Plastic wrap saved these operations from having to throw away a lot of their food. By storing the plastic-wrapped and prepared food in a refrigerator until it was delivered, the orders arrived at their destination still fresh and flavorful.
The food service operation gained a reputation for providing perfectly safe and edible food on people’s doorstep in a crisis. Plastic wrap helped them speed up their preparation for an increased amount of orders and deliver their familiar, comforting tastes to their customers in record time.
Food is one of the most comforting aspects in an emergency or when times are hard. Sitting down with family and loved ones to enjoy a meal of your favorite dishes can mean a lot when a family is isolated and locked down.
One of the reasons why the food industry was able to rise to the occasion and provide a measure of comfort to millions of people around the world, was the hygienically advanced food handling techniques and tools used in the food service industry. Plastic stretch film is one of the most visible tools used by the industry.
Providing Stretch Film to the World
MMP Corporation is one of the largest suppliers of this vital food service industry tool. We’re a supplier to food service companies in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North and South America, Oceania, and Asia. The quality of our stretch film is guaranteed in every country around the world. Contact us to view our complete line of products. They include high-quality hygienic plastic gloves, aluminum foil, stretch hoods for packing and shipping, plastic wrap for home and industrial food service use, and our agricultural silage wraps for use on farms.
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