Patent ID: 7097038

Claim:
A meal kit packaging system for ready-to-eat food and beverage items, comprising: a container formed from a unitary one-piece blank and having first and second self supporting tray parts joined together via a hinge; a pair of removable straight line tear strips extending from said hinge and dividing the container into first and second tray modules, with one tray module hingedly movable toward and away from the other tray module so as to render the container reclosable; the first and second tray parts of the container each having a support wall at least partly surrounded by containment walls upstanding from the support wall; the first and second tray modules of the container, with the tear strips removed, having sufficient strength and stiffness to function for food preparation and serving; the first tray module having four generally rectangular walls of generally equal height, including a front wall, a pair of opposed multiple thickness side walls comprising a first generally rectangular wall overlying a second generally triangular wall portion of the second tray part, and a rear wall; the second tray module having a front generally unbroken, continuous rectangular wall of height generally equal to the height of the front wall of the first tray module, and a pair of opposed generally triangular side walls, the pair of opposed generally triangular sidewalls, the removable tear strips and the second generally triangular wall portion forming one-piece generally rectangular panel portions of said unitary one-piece blank; and said tear strips extending diagonally between the front and rearwalls of the first tray part and separating the side walls of the second tray part to thereby free the second tray module for movement away from the first tray module.