Indonesia lies on the Ring of Fire that is geographically vulnerable to natural disasters. One of the problems caused by this is the difficulty of distributing logistics to disaster affected remote areas.
To address this problem, Animal Science lecturer from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Dr. Ir. Endy Triyannanto, S.Pt., M.Eng., IPM, ASEAN Eng., made a packaging innovation that is safe, healthy, whole, halal, inexpensive, nutritious and easily distributed to the impacted areas.
“One of packaging alternatives that can preserve and maintain food quality is retort pouch packaging, which is military plastic wrapping that allows easy food distribution to disaster affected areas,” said Endy.
Endy added this wrapping is strong enough to be dropped from a height. It can prevent a decrease in nutrition levels for a long time between 6 months – 1 year, depending on the quality of the packaging and food.
Retort pouch has 4-5 plastic layers that serve to protect food from light, oxygen, and bacteria. Until now, retort packaging is still new in the field of food packaging in Indonesia, both for disaster and commercial needs.
“The types of food that are generally distributed to affected areas are instant noodles, biscuits, fresh food, and canned foods. This shows that innovations in handling logistical needs, especially food, are needed so that people will be more prepared to face natural disasters,” he said.
He said not many cattle food products had been developed with a retort packaging, partly due to the newness of such technology. Examples of food products that have been developed with retort packaging at LIPI and UGM are beef rendang, satay, smoked goat sausage, and chicken.
He added food experts in Indonesia have not touched upon food handling issues during disaster.
“Innovations in in food storage, processing, and distribution will determine the development of disaster management in the industrial era 4.0. In the future, retort packaging will become a new culture in Indonesia’s packaging that allows MSMEs to make ready-to-eat products to be distributed anywhere, including to areas affected by disasters,” he concluded.
