Caterers have a new tool for making broken tableware and spilled coffee a thing of the past

Whether it's out-of-home dining, catering, cafeteria, outlet chain or food services for events: if people are being fed, trays are being used.

These are typically plastic or metal, despite the two-fold disadvantages they present to caterers: the fact that products placed on them tend to slip during transport and the high loss rates suffered by caterers and event food service operations due to the small share of reusable trays actually returned after use.

STI Group has created a corrugated cardboard catering tray serving the needs of precisely this target audience. It features an anti-slip coating and can also be custom designed. The anti-slip base provides for safe transport of tableware and glasses, with excellent grip to the surface below at angles of up to 25°.

The trays are based on a specially coated corrugated cardboard that is drawn deep to provide the high edge that defines the classic tray shape. The recyclable paper or cardboard trays can be individually printed before receiving their special coating. That anti-slip coating, applied inline during the printing process, does not expand until the final production step involving the reshaping of the trays. As a result the corrugated cardboard flutes can be processed effectively at any time until that point.

Responsible consumption

Once the coating expands, the surface of the tray offers a velvety feel that nevertheless prevents slips. Trays refined through this process are moisture-resistant and offer an excellent space for advertising, even allowing operators to forego the paper liners frequently used with trays. At the same time corrugated cardboard trays weigh significantly less than plastic trays and take up less space, providing additional ecological benefits. The STI Group is FSC® certified, meaning that it uses wood harvested through sustainable forestry – and that the corporate group's customers may also display the emblem when advertising their product.

The new generation of trays will be deployed for the first time by the catering services at the FachPack in Nuremberg, allowing both visitors and exhibitors alike to experience the technology firsthand.

Ease of handling, quality, freshness and enjoyment – these characteristics are front and centre for the foodstuffs industry. The STI Group maintains a broad range of packaging options to meet users' needs for innovative and convenient products.

The catering tray belongs to the multiform packaging series of specially coated cardboard and corrugated cardboard designed to be deep-drawn. The new packaging line can be used as dishes for ready-made and half-baked meals, as a backing tray for dough, as multiple-portion packaging or – as is the case here – as customizable trays. Additional prototypes are in the design and development stage.

Catering tray: Advantages at a glance:

• Variety of shapes and sizes possible
• Can be custom designed
• FSC® certified material from sustainable forestry
• Offset and flexo printing possible
• Anti-slip coating
• Moisture resistant
• Recyclable
• Reduced weight and logistics volumes