At Frontline Food Consultants and Engineers, with our expertise in single-serve packaging solutions–single-serve portions are available across different food segments. Our Portion Control and Recipe Development Services bring the variety you want and the portion and convenience you need, from prepared meals and single-serving snacks and beverages to dressings and sauces. Our emphasis is placed on portion control so that our products can easily be consumed in one-hand heal and Quick Bite formats for added benefits such as ready-to-eat or individually packed snacks.

We help with Equipment Selection and Procurement which will enable you to have the right type of machinery all through to portioning, filling, Food Processing, and sealing of the single serve packs. Our Process Optimization Services enhance the most appropriate packaging methods in terms of effectiveness and product quality. Regulatory Compliance and Packaging Solutions allow us to guarantee that our single-serve offer is compliant with food safety and legally required standards and is repacked to be efficient and appealing when used for snacks, meal kits or sauces. Third-party manufacturing partners and legal services are also offered. 

What are single-serve portions? 

Single-serve portions are packaged foods that have been specially arranged in single portions for take-off. It includes a variety of products from convenience foods like ready-to-eat foods including meals, snacks and beverages, to bakery goods and desserts. These are produced in easily storable, transportable and easily consumable disposable packages. The process of portion control is concerned with the creation of single-serve portions, with the selection of the ingredients or products to be involved in the process being the starting point. For products that are in the form of yogurt, soup or any other prepared dish/meal then the raw materials are processed for the meal recipe. The difficulty of the process when preparing FRVPs lies in the need to introduce alterations within the food product to create the single-serve particulars and yet have them retain the same qualities and characteristics as the full-size fiber product.

Once the product is prepared, it is portioned for serving into portions of cups, pouches, packets, etc. Portioning is done carefully to make sure each unit has the right amount of product. This step is crucial to products like condiments or snacks if portion control is imperative to people’s experience.

Portioning involves cutting the products into appropriately smaller sizes for easy preparation and use, and this is followed by the packaging step to minimize exposure of the foods to contamination. They include thin types of packaging, easy-to-tear packaging, and easy-to-open packs that can be recycled or made from recycled material. Mostly MAP or vacuum-packed, alcoholic products to increase their shelf life without the use of preservatives. Last of all, the single-serving package is branded with text containing information about the nutrients, recommended serving size, and any instructions for preparation. With reference to convenience, a prominent and easily understandable label combined with the transportability of food packaging helps the consumers.

The Production Process of Single-Serve Portions 

Preparation and processing of hot meals in single-serve portions is a long and complicated process that will help to create as many conveniences as possible for a consumer, at the same time the quality of which will not be compromised by safety standards.

Choice of ingredients and preparation

  • High-Quality Ingredients: The quality of used products also plays an important role in getting the maximum taste and foods’ ability to bring benefits.
  • Preparation: All the ingredients are first washed and depending on the recipes, the foods are chopped, sliced or minced. This may involve baking or may include applications such as marinating and mixing to make the actual product.
  • Washing: On the aspect of microbial safety, it is recommended to use water temperatures of about 5-10 o C.
  • Cooking: Using techniques like blanching of vegetables at 85-95°C in order to maintain the color and nutrients of the vegetables.

Portioning and Packaging

  • Portion Control: The ingredients are portioned out in integrated services, by means of weighing balance that may include multi-head weighers or volumetric fillers to enhance the accuracy and to regulate the calories.
  • Packaging: Single-serving portions are presented in cups with a plastic cover, flexible pouches, and bags, trays or boxes. After treatment is in a way that it can sustain food and be in a position to be conveyed and likewise to be eaten.

Sealing:

  • Heat Sealing: When sealing the cups and trays of the plastic used in manufacturing, the temperature values should fall between 170-190°C; this ensures that the foods packed in the containers do not get contaminated by other foods with bad smells.
  • Vacuum Sealing: Common in the packaging of products that are placed individually in pouches and then vacuum packed to minimize spoilage. This process mostly takes place at a pressure below 0.5 to 1 bar.
  • Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP): Pest Man: Usually applied for snacks as well as for ready to eat products to expel air from the pack and replace it with a gas combo (Nitrogen-carbon dioxide).

Labeling

  • Clear Instructions: The packaging entails messages that explain to the consumer how to use it or how to take the product. This may mean cooking instructions for microwavable meals or processing instructions for snack foods, say.
  • Microwave Instructions: Presenting whether the power is high or low and the duration of use, for example, heat at the highest level for two to three minutes.
  • Nutritional Information: Labels include information about energy values, macronutrients, vitamins and minerals. Proper labeling assists the customers in making the right decision on what product to buy.
  • Refrigeration or Freezing: The packs that can be used for a single serving and serving several people need to be refrigerated most of the time, with the temperature being between 0 and 4 °C, or frozen at -18 °C depending in the product.

Various kinds of Single-Serve Portion skirts. 

Single-serve portions come in various forms, each offering unique flavors and uses:

Ready-to-Eat Meals

  • Microwaveable Meals: Thermomax ready-to-eat products that are packaged and which only require reheating by use of a microwave oven. Such are pasta meals, rice brawns, and casseroles. Microwaves heat food within 2-3 minutes at 800- 1000 wattage Hz.

Snacks

  • Fruit Cups: Fruits are preserved in small containers containing one portion each and are covered with juice or syrup. These are some of the important tasty snacks that are easy to prepare and are very healthy.
  • Yogurt Cups: Cups of yogurt usually with fruit or granola.
  • Nuts and Trail Mix: Small individually sealed bags of nuts, seeds and fruits that have been pre-portioned. These offer a good opportunity to have a quite and quick snack, which is also rather healthy.

Beverages

  • Juice Boxes: Less than 250 ml servings, which are convenient for instant drinking to replenish the body’s fluids.
  • Smoothie Packs: Everything that can be consumed as a smoothie: fruits and vegetables pre-measured, and waiting to be blended with the liquid substance.
  • Desserts
  • Pudding Cups: Small portions of creamy puddings or gelatin molds, fruit salads.
  • Ice Cream Cups: The portions of ice cream that come in many types of flavors, single scoops, double scoops and other portions based on consumer requirements.