Cereals products and their packaging currently used in Pakistan

What are cereals?

Cereals or grains belong to the monocot families ‘Poaceae or Gramineae’ and are cultivated
widely to obtain the edible components of their fruit seeds. Botanically, these fruits are called
‘caryopsis’ and are structurally divided into endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grains are
cultivated in huge quantities and provide more food energy than any other type of crop,
therefore, they are known as staple crops.
Different types of cereals
The most familiar grains used for making the category of cereals include:
 Rice
 Wheat
 Maize
 Barley
 Sorghum
 Millet
 Oats
 Rye
 Fonio
 Buck wheat
 Quinoa
Cereal based products
Cereals and cereal products are significant and important human food resources and livestock
feeds worldwide. In the United States the recommended intake of cereals is 6–11 servings a day
of which at least 3 servings should consist of a variety of cereals in foods.
General based product range
Cereal products derived from cereal grains include:
 Wheat, rye, and oat flours.
 Semolina
 Cornmeal
 Corn grits
 Doughs
 Bread
 Breakfast cereals
 Pasta
 Snack foods
 Dry mixes
 Cakes
 Pastries
 Tortillas
 In addition, cereal products are used as ingredients in numerous products, such as batters and
coatings, thickeners.
Pakistan - Cereal production (metric tons)
The value for Cereal production (metric tons) in Pakistan was 38,394,440 as of 2014.

Year Value (metric tons)

2009 38,157,380

2010 34,811,500

2011 36,224,380

2012 33,728,400

2013 36,440,620

2014 38,394,440

Top companies of cereals production in Pakistan

 Rafhan maize products company LTD Faisalabad
 Fauji cereals Rawalpindi
 Fauji Foundation Rawalpindi
 Nestle Pakistan LTD Lahore.
 International multi foods LTD Karachi.
 Affan enterprises Faisalabad
Packaging Consideration and selection
The packaging must contain and preserve a certain quantity of product as efficiently as possible
and also must protect its contents from external threats including spoilage, breakage, damage
from external environmental conditions, pilfering and theft. Primary, secondary and tertiary
packaging must be designed so that the product stays in perfect condition until it reaches the end
user. The package must be strong and durable enough to protect the product with a reasonable
safety margin.
Level of Packaging
 Primary
In direct contact with food
 Secondary
For distribution, several primary packages are placed
 Tertiary
Several secondary packages are placed in a unit load.
Packaging Materials
 Paper, Paper board, and printed fiber board:
Most cereals are packaged with paper-based materials made from wood fibers. Micro flute
corrugated paperboards have unique characteristics including good strength properties, excellent
shock absorbing ability, good aesthetic appearance, environmental advantages, and distinctive
print properties. White board is suitable for contact with food and is often coated with low
density polyethylene (LDPE), poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC), or wax. It is used for snack,
chocolate, and frozen food cartons. Different types of cereal based products are packed in paper-
based materials. The major products include weaning foods and breakfast cereals.
 Plastic films
Flexible plastic films have been used for cereals in single packaging or multi-serving size
packages with other packaging materials. Biaxially oriented films are most widely used, as it has
qualities of toughness (against puncture and abrasion) and clarity, and is rendered heat sealable
by coextrusion or coating with polyolefin copolymers. Films are also coated with other polymers
or aluminum to improve the barrier properties or to impart heat salability. Other films include:
LDPE/LLDPE films, High Molecular High-Density Polyethylene films. Laminates made from
BOPP/LDPE, Cast Polypropylene (CPP)/LDPE, Polyester/ LDPE are used in few branded
commodities. Although laminates are essential for expensive products like Basmati rice where
the flavor retention of the product is very important. Major cereal products packed in plastic
films are rice, flour etc.
 Metals
Metal containers have been rarely used for cereals and cereal products due to their cost, despite
their perfect gas barrier properties, convenience, and extreme strength. Aluminum cans are most
commonly used. Many commodities are easily affected by sunlight, which damages their
appearance and worsens their taste. Aluminum solves this problem in the best way possible
which is why it is generally regarded as the ideal core packaging material for food. Aluminum is
non-toxic, so it does not damage the foods packed in it, but instead protects them. Most
commonly packed cereal-based product in aluminum cans are Malted milk powder.
 Bulk packaging
Cereals are sold mainly in bulk quantities. The requirements for bulk packaging are therefore,
most important for these commodities. The packaging materials used for bulk packing of cereals
are as follows:
 Jute Bags
 Woven sacks made out of high-density polyethylene or polypropylene
 Multiwall paper Sacks
Traditionally, jute has been the packaging material used for bulk packaging of food grains. With
the increasing growth of these commodities, there has been a quest to look at alternate packaging
materials due to the stagnant jute production. Plastic woven sacks have the potential to fulfill this
need in a cost-effective manner. These are made either from HDPE or PP. Cost: Jute sacks are 5-
6 times heavier than the sack made out of plastic material like HDPE or Polypropylene for a
similar weight pack. The nature of jute packaging is such that, lot of food packed therein gets
exposed to deteriorating factors and germs. Air borne germs and the ones present in the storage
rooms may seek way through the pores of the fabric and may contaminate the food. Such food,
when consumed may cause illness like food poisoning.
 Baby foods packaging
Weaning food are an essential diet of growing infants. Weaning food based on cereals are highly
sensitive to changes in moisture, resulting in caking when the relative humidity exceeds 60%. At
higher moisture the product turns bitter owing to hydrolytic rancidity. They are mostly available
in bag-in-box type packaging CR paper board is used where LDPE is used as the sealant layer.
The other films used for liner bags are BOPP/Poly or Polyester. Some baby food are available in
lined cartons. BOPP Film CR Paper Board.
 Rice packaging
Rice is the predominant staple food all around the world. Moulds are the important microbes
associated with cereals during growth, harvest, storage and shipping. Good storage conditions
and packaging are the key plugs to keep rice fresh as spores only germinate if the moisture,
temperature and oxygen levels are optimum. Moulds cannot grow in rice grains below 14%
moisture. Warm conditions also encourage fungal growth. They are mostly available in plastic
bags. The other forms of packaging include plant fiber bags (jute, cotton, and sisal) which are
mainly used for bulk packaging.
Stand up pouch packaging is the modern version of flexible packaging. The style of this
packaging is mainly in a box form. The pouch has a very flat bottom surface and when it is filled
it balances straight up, unaccompanied. The pouch also has left and right-side gussets. Material
forms used during the production process of these bags include; Plastic, PET, BOPP, PE or Foil
aluminum. All these materials contribute to the durability and flexibility of stand-up pouch bag
packaging designs. The thickness and capacity of packaging material depends upon type of
product. Normal thickness of packaging material for rice is 80-200 microns.
 Recent advancements of packaging of Cereal products in Pakistan
o Flexible packaging products are now increasingly used in agricultural and food sector. From
large cans and barrels used for storing and transporting pesticides to small butter boxes used in
retail packaging, there is a long list of such products. Flex Pac officials say once they start
maintaining a data bank on this industry the specific issues of agricultural packaging can be
identified and addressed.
o Moves to organize agriculture and food packaging industry coincide with the entry of foreign
partners in overall packaging industry. Earlier this month the UK-based Ashmore announced to
 set up an aluminum beverage can plant near Islamabad with an initial capacity of producing 700
million cans every year.
o An Australian company, in collaboration with a local partner since 2010, has been involved in
manufacturing of WPP bags and sheets, some varieties of which are used in packaging of rice,
sugar, maize and pulses etc.
o Similarly, Packages Ltd has set up a joint venture project Bulleh Shah Packaging with Finland’s
Stora Enso OYJ Group for enhancing production of paper, paperboard and corrugated boxes and
cartons etc. Although these products would be used in a wide variety of industries, officials of
Packages say they would also cater to additional demand of these packaging materials and
products in the agriculture sector.
o From small cardboard-and-paper packets for mangoes to big polypropylene and jute sacks for
rice and from traditional wooden boxes for vegetables to exclusively designed plastic crates for
seafood, numerous packaging products are used in the agriculture sector.
o Wood, jute and cotton sacking, paper and plastic of various grades are most widely used in
manufacturing of agricultural packaging products. In some cases, products are made up of each
of these items and in other cases a combination of the two or three works well. Production of
paper and board rose by 11pc in FY14 to about 682,000 tons from 614,000 tones in FY13. But
output of jute and cotton sacking has been on a modest decline and the shortage is increasingly
being met through imports. Production of plywood is also falling and its imports growing, stats
on output of large-scale manufacturing show.
o Most of these products are manufactured locally and some are mostly imported from the US,
Japan and China. The bulk of raw material including plastics used in agricultural packaging
products also come from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China and Qatar.