An Overview of the Egyptian Cheese Packaging Closing/ Opening System and its Future Trends

Abstract

The Closing and opening system of the package is very important for any food product to guarantee safety and convenience. White and Rumi cheese is one of the main types of cheese in Egypt. The packaging of the Egyptian cheese changed over the years. Recently two kinds of packaging invaded the Egyptian market; Tetra Pak and plastic tubs. The paper study the types of packaging used for Egyptian cheese (white and Rumi) how these respond to product and consumer demands and convenience. Two factors are considered: Easy opening and reclosing. Descriptive, analytical study was conducted to evaluate cheese packaging in the Egyptian Market. A comparison between Interview results representing the industry and consumer questionnaire, which assess the Egyptian cheese packaging, showed conflicts between industry and consumer requirements. The study results showed that a new Egyptian package format can be used for the Rumi and white cheese packaging in the next few years. New formats should include easy opening composite packaging for Tetra Pak as well as reclosing system for white Egyptian cheese and new skin or vacuum one for hard Rumi cheese.