Why do certain types of bread, notably rye, pumpernickel & sourdough, for example, come packaged in crackly cellophane-like plastic which is just about impossible to reseal in any effective way, while most other breads are packaged in easily re-sealable, pliant plastic? Bread is bread, no?
Hello, and welcome to the Forum.
I see 52 pairs of eyes viewed your question and not a one took the time to say hey! So, let me be the first and, sorry, I can’t answer it either.
Not a clue. So, this is just a lame guess: Maybe the manufacturers figure these are the kinds of bread that go on something like a party platter, and there won’t be any left over? Well, nevermind. Told you it was lame.
Welcome, anyway.
We had a thread about why some rye bread is double wrapped. It seems to have something to do with the fact that rye bread doesn’t freeze as well. Or something. Maybe. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?&threadid=117000 Perhaps your rye bread has a special packaging for the same reason. I wouldn’t know. The rye I buy comes in bags made from the same sort of plastic as normal bread bags.
My WAG is that it has to do with the way those particular breads are baked. Plain old white bread, for example is baked in a pan, and so has a consistent shape and size. The types of bread you mention are not; the dough is shaped and put in the oven as a freestanding lump, and so there is considerable variation on the shape of the loaves. In order to have a nice tight-fitting package to display the pretty logos and designs the manufacturer hopes will attract you to their product, they are shrink wrapped, rather than put in bags which may or may not fit tightly depending on the shape of the loaf.
The rye bread I buy is Oroweat, which is perfectly consistent in loaf size and shape. But sure enough, it comes in a sealed cellophane wrapper only. Wheat breads by the same maker have a cellophane wrapper inside an easy-to-deal-with polyethylene bag. The rye bread comes with a sticker that you’re supposed to use to reseal the packaging, but that doesn’t work very well both because the cellophane tends to tear and because the sticker starts losing its adhesive almost immediately.
A clear case of bread discrimination.
I forgot to mention that this is the second time in two days I’ve made a post that mentioned Oroweat rye bread.
Exactly, Biffy…Oroweat is just one the brands I get that are packaged this way…the innefectual cellophane that tears right away, so even if the sticker/closer stuck, the rest of the wrapper is tearing open anyway. And the breads are uniform in size and shape…I’ve never seen any bread actually shrink wrapped. I’ve personnaly never seen the double wrapped ones mentioned, with the pliant polyethelene bag outside the cellophane wrapper. But that begs the question further…if the manufacturers recognize that the cellophane deal isn’t up to snuff, why put another wrapper over it instead of just using one that works? I just don’t get it. I’ve tried calling Oroweat, but couldn’t reach anyone with a clue. It’s driving me nuts. Is this what happens from being unemployed for 4 months? Yikes.
And thanks for the welcomes.
Total WAG, in particular since I’m not entirely familiar with this celophane wrapping of which you speak: Sourdough bread, or big baguette-style bread in general, is often sold simply in a paper bag because it’s baked and sold fresh, intended to be consumed in short order. Putting fresh, warm bread in a sealed plastic bag leads to condensation in the bag, which at the least is unattractive and at worst could make the bread soggy or more susceptible to mold or whatnot – having worked in a bagel shop for some time, we always put fresh bagels in a paper bag, and told customers that wanted to freeze a dozen for later consumption to transfer them to plastic once they had cooled (I know, the concept of frozen bagels is repellent, but hey, the customer is always right). So, perhaps something about the nature of ryes or pumpernickles necessitates more breathable packaging in the time after production – something between a totally sealed plastic of white bread and the open paper bag of french bread or bagels.
[/wag]
Cellophane, as far as I know, is the most moisture-repellent of all platic wraps. As we know that good whole-grain bread turns rapidly to rock when it dries out, I expect that cellophane is used because it protects the bread better. The sort of bag used to wrap Wonderbread, and the closure used on that sort of bag, would leave Oroweat breads relatively unprotected.
Hey, I’m a retail guy, and in charge of a bakery also.
Your bread is wrapped thay way because of either:
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Traditionally that was how that bread was always packaged.
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The marketers of that bread wanted that bread to “look” that way.
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The production line packager uses that type of packaging.
There is a lot of thought on the looks of packaging for any product, and the type and quality of the materials affects the sales of the product. For example, I try to have all our store made products packaged in the cellophane bags rather than the poly bags. The product looks nicer, is distinctive, and lasts longer. The long loaves of bread go into a paper bag to give it a more traditional “just baked” look. Anything packed in the poly bags looks cheaper, at least to me.
And don’t overlook that the bakery line that makes your bread is just old with old equipment. In other markets it may be packaged a different way.
Pepperidge Farms is a good example of how a company plays around with the packaging.
You’ve answered most of your own question. The unscrupulous lot would rather we buy another loaf than give us the ability to reseal the product for another day. Take a closer look at the majority of brand names on the aforementioned products and then do the math…
hudson, welcome to the Straight Dope.
bondman has not been around these boards since 2003, shortly after he posted his query. So don’t wait up for a reply. What on earth led you to this old thread? I find it endlessly fascinating to discover just what brought new people to old threads.
You secure that shit, Hudson! 
(Welcome to the Dope.)
Moderator Action
Welcome to the SDMB, hudson.
We tend to refer to old threads that have been resurrected like this as zombies, and raising old threads like this tends to lead to more zombie jokes than anything else. So, with that, I think I’ll put this poor old zombie back in his grave and leave him to rest.
Thread closed.