Extending the Shelf Life

Most snack foods contain certain components such as fats and sugars. These components are easily affected by oxygen and moisture in the air, resulting in oxidation, getting damp, mildew and other situations. For example, nut-based snack foods like cashews and almonds are rich in unsaturated fatty acids. In the air, unsaturated fatty acids will react with oxygen through oxidation reactions, producing a rancid smell and affecting the taste and quality. By using a vacuum packaging machine to remove the air inside the packaging, the oxygen content can be effectively reduced, the growth of microorganisms and the oxidation of fats can be inhibited, thus extending the shelf life of snack foods. Generally speaking, the shelf life of snack foods after vacuum packaging can be extended several times. Some products that originally had a shelf life of only 3 to 6 months can reach 1 to 2 years after vacuum packaging.

Maintaining the Original Flavor and Nutritional Components of Food

Vacuum packaging can reduce the contact between snack foods and the external environment, avoiding the volatilization of flavor substances and the loss of nutritional components. Take dehydrated vegetable chips such as dried carrots and dried mushrooms as examples. These snack foods are rich in vitamins and minerals. In a vacuum environment, their nutritional components can be better preserved. Meanwhile, the fragrance of the vegetable chips can also be locked in and won't dissipate due to excessive contact with air, allowing consumers to taste their original flavor when eating them.

Facilitating Storage and Transportation

After being vacuum packaged, the products inside the packaging of snack foods become more compact, reducing the damage to the foods caused by shaking and collision during the storage and transportation processes. For some snack foods with irregular shapes or that are relatively fragile, such as handmade cookies, vacuum packaging can prevent the cookies from breaking due to friction with each other inside the bags. Moreover, the volume of the products after vacuum packaging is relatively reduced, so that more products can be stored in the same storage space and transportation vehicles, improving the space utilization rate.

Enhancing the Appearance Quality and Grade of Products

Vacuum packaging makes the packaging of snack foods flatter and stiffer, giving consumers a refined feeling. For some high-end snack foods, such as imported chocolates and specialty preserved fruits, good vacuum packaging can enhance the overall image of the products and strengthen their competitiveness in the market. Consumers are often attracted by products with exquisite packaging when making purchases, and vacuum-packaged snack foods are also more likely to stand out on the shelves.