australia in time for the country&rsquos celebration of national holiday australia day, on 26 january, leading specialty chicken retailer lenard&rsquos had lined up its newest launch for the barbecue a cookin bag developed by uk company qbag. lenard&rsquos is calling it the barbie bag, and laying claim to pioneering the &lsquobbq in a bag&rsquo cooking concept in this country. the barbie bag is sold through some 200 lenard&rsquos outlets across australia prepacked with one of three readytocook meal varieties.national purchasing & logistics manager at lenard&rsquos, david keith, said &ldquoqbag is exactly the type of convenient and sustainable packaging that lenard&rsquos have been looking for. qbag allows us to develop exciting new dishes that would not normally be associated with outdoor cooking, and best of all leaves no mess to clean up afterwards&rdquothe innovative, aluminium foil, readymeal bag, which can be used in the oven as well as on the barbecue, was developed in the uk in 2006 but has gained market penetration since its manufacture was moved to vietnam in 2010 by qbag&rsquos holding company law print and packaging ltd. from this location, the company says, it is better positioned to supply the global foodservice and retail market.the bag has several attractive features that could provide a niche for food manufacturersprocessors and brand owners looking to enter the growing ready meal market. apart from convenience of the cookin concept, and recyclability of the foil, other benefits of the bag include the selfventilating window that allows excess steam to escape and cooking progress to be checked and the bag can be filled with chilled food or frozen with food inside to be cooked at a later time.qbag sales executive, sonia ginty, said the lenard&rsquos trials would help validate the company&rsquos bags for use on barbecues, building on its existing presence in the ovenready meals market. &ldquothe outdoor barbecue market has been largely unexplored for many companies because it&rsquos difficult to sell prepared meals in an easy and convenient way on the grill.&rdquocontributed by lindy hughson 
