The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 1979
Marks & Spencer, in 1979, gas-flushed fresh meat so stores sold case-ready cuts
Marks & Spencer gas-flushed fresh meat in 1979, giving a long shelf life and a bright red color without moving the butchery in-store.
Marks & Spencer
the move
Selling fresh meat meant an in-store butchery, which limited how much a store could stock and how long the meat would last. Stores had to decide quantities themselves, and the result was variable quality and waste.
Marks & Spencer began selling fresh meat in modified-atmosphere packs in the United Kingdom in 1979. Instead of wrapping meat in air, it sealed it in a tray with a controlled gas mixture — high oxygen to preserve the cherry-red colour and carbon dioxide to slow bacterial spoilage.
The changed atmosphere extended shelf life by days. Because the cut and pack no longer had to happen in-store, a central packing plant could supply many stores with consistent, sale-ready items, and a branch could sell more fresh meat without running its own butchery.
It took over a year and several meat suppliers for M&S to move all its meats into controlled-atmosphere containers, which shows how much coordination a retail-level change of this kind requires.
why it works
- The oxygen-rich atmosphere keeps myoglobin bright red, which is what shoppers read as 'fresh'.
- Carbon dioxide inhibits the spoilage bacteria, extending the usable shelf life by days.
- Packing centrally means a store no longer needs skilled butchers or its own cutting room.
- A longer, consistent shelf life lets a chain scale fresh-meat volume instead of being limited by one store's counter.
what transfers
Shelf life is often limited by the packaging air, so changing what the product is sealed in can unlock scale without changing the product itself.
what came after
Modified-atmosphere packaging spread quickly through UK and European supermarkets and is now standard for fresh meat and prepared foods. It made the case-ready meat category viable and helped migrate food preparation from the retail counter to centralized packing plants.
references
- Modified atmospheres and vacuum packaging
- The role of plastic packaging in transforming food retailing
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