Bacon wrapping / packaging. Why?

Not About Food
1

Whenever I open a new sleeve of bacon I ask myself what deranged person came up with this stunningly stupid packaging. Never mind the use of plastic — I’ve pretty much given up on that battle for good, but… you have to use MOAR plastic in form of a ziplock bag so the bacon doesn’t get all icky.

I get that part of it is to show only the meaty parts & hide the ‘unsightly’ fat parts (even tho both are what makes bacon delicious), but… how is it that nobody to date has come up wtih a smarter, more intuitive packaging?

And if there’s more annoying packaging for a food item around, please enlighten me.

#endrant

4 Likes
2

That’s why I just cook the whole thing after opening it. Whatever doesn’t get used goes in the freezer for another time!

3 Likes
3

You don’t mention if you’re partial to a certain brand of bacon, but Wright brand thick cut bacon comes in resealable packages. Usually 1 1/2-2 lbs which is way too much for us. And looks too fatty to me. I buy GV at WM - 1 lb. I can see the deceptive front and realistic back. Cut it open and wrap in plastic wrap until gone. No way around it. 4 days tops. I’ve tried freezing cooked bacon but it just doesn’t taste as good as same day fried to me. Maybe there’s a certain trick to it I don’t know.

1 Like
4

It is a deterrent so that I don’t eat bacon every day.

7 Likes
5

This seems to be the packaging style for 95% of the bacon on the market, regardless of the brand.

That said, I have seen brands where the bacon is in a rectangular pouch with all the strips next to each other, which is slightly more intuitive, and some of them even reseal! Now… if only I could remember which brand :upside_down_face:

And I totally agree about freezing cooked bacon. It’s not the same for me as fresh, either.

Next time I’m in the market for bacon I’ll see what’s out there.

1 Like
6
2 Likes
7

No shops nearby which has a meat department that sells bacon by the slice ? Here are many large (WF, Safeway etc) and smaller shops (and actual stand alone butcher shops) where we buy just what we need for the day

3 Likes
8

That would be nice.

9

There are also reusable containers available, too, including in stainless and glass.

1 Like
10

The university has a meat department. That’s about it. I’ve yet to make it there on a Friday morn before everything’s sold out.

Central PA isn’t the Bay Area.

1 Like
11

Well, yeah. I use containers to store food all the time. That doesn’t quite get to the topic at hand: why the packaging is sofa king idiotic in the first place.

1 Like
12
1 Like
13

The flimsy paper insert on some bacon packaging drives me insane. The cheaper store brand stuff is not as aggravating.

14

E595E59B-2CF4-435C-A984-B08D823CC180_1_201_a
E595E59B-2CF4-435C-A984-B08D823CC180_1_201_a4031×2233 1.11 MB

I can groove to this packaging.

3 Likes
15

Yup, that looks way better than the stuff I get round these parts.

2 Likes
16

There’s little variation in how bacon is packaged because there’s three major producers that own 60-70% of the US market, Smithfield, JBA and Tyson. For general food safety having that concentration isn’t a good thing but that’s another story. As to why the weird, non friendly plastic packaging…vacuum sealing controls the mess.

2 Likes
17

i freeze the individual slices on a quarter sheet, the put the slices in a freezer bag. that way i can use a slice or two at a time.

3 Likes
18

I can’t even get the company I work for to package stuff so it doesnt get scratched or broken…i agree that it’s dumb, but i only have the energy to fix the problem in my own house…

1 Like
19

That’s what I do. Butcher paper=kindling when I’m done.

1 Like
20

Hasn’t much to do with the Bay area but even in the suburbs of San Diego and Boston many large chains (Albertson, Stop&Shop etc) had meat departments

1 Like