ORLANDO, Fla. — Packaging once gave fresh produce companies a competitive edge, helping products stand out on shelves and generating stronger returns for growers, says Janis McIntosh, director of sustainability for Naturipe Farms. That changed as states began enacting extended producer responsibility laws.
“EPR has changed our whole lives,” she says.
McIntosh spoke during a panel at the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce and Floral Show with Jen Doxey, vice president of business operations for Pro Citrus Network and Foremost Fresh Direct, and John Paap, sustainability and brand marketing manager for Jac. Vandenberg Inc., with the discussion moderated by Tamara Muruetagoiena, IFPA’s vice president of sustainability.
Muruetagoiena says eight states currently have EPR regulations, while six others are considering legislation. The challenge, she says, is that the requirements lack alignment, even though many fresh produce companies ship products across state lines.
“These types of regulations are solely focused on end of life,” she says. “They are allowing the states to eliminate the cost and a lot of the responsibility for the end of life of packaging.”
McIntosh says one benefit of EPR laws is that they have prompted the fresh produce industry to educate legislators and regulators about their effect on the fresh produce supply chain.
“They have no idea,” McIntosh says. “They’re making the rules, saying you can’t use plastic. Well, the berry industry really relies on plastic because we have among the shortest shelf lives of most produce items, and the FDA actually refers to strawberry clamshells as food safety.”
The Cost Dilemma for Produce Growers and Shoppers
With high fuel prices and inflation already straining consumers, McIntosh says states considering EPR laws should recognize that added costs will land on shoppers.
“They’re going to get hit by a trash charge because there’s no way we’re going to absorb it,” McIntosh says. “It’s going to get passed along to the consumer, and all of a sudden they’re going to see an uptick in their cost at the register, at the ring.”
Doxey agrees, noting that “the regulations that are put in place, they have zero idea of how that is actually impacting everyone and consumers.”
Pointing to increased waste and costs, she says these regulations “just made fruits and vegetables that are healthy less affordable.”
Pushing Back and Finding Exemptions
McIntosh says the industry has pushed for exemptions and secured one for field-packed produce. Even so, EPR laws have “changed the way we’re thinking about plastic.”
Calling the issue a matter of survival, McIntosh says Naturipe faces the difficult task of calculating how much EPR laws will reduce grower returns.
“Is it 20 cents, 30 cents or 40 cents, depending on the state you’re shipping to?” McIntosh says.
For now, McIntosh says, Naturipe does not plan to change its packaging material.
“We’re thinking about how we’re going to fight it,” she says.
Doxey says “plastic is not inherently bad if you have the right structure for it.” Pro Citrus Network and Foremost Fresh Direct have stepped back to assess the broader picture, including working with packaging suppliers to understand the materials used and the packaging’s full life cycle.
“It’s about being innovative and creative, considering what else we might use and what trade-offs those alternatives could bring,” she says.
Paap says “there’s no doubt it’s complete chaos right now” but adds that it’s “not a bad thing.”
As the fresh produce industry adapts to the new EPR laws, companies are reassessing packaging choices, costs and long-term strategies. Paap likens today’s reality of EPRs to where food safety was a few years ago when it became more regulated.
“That’s what happens with regulation,” he says. “You get in a state of flux and there’s confusion and there’s chaos, but in that chaos, we can find opportunities.”
Regulatory Confusion Spurs Industry Innovation
Paap says this is where IFPA’s Sustainability Framework has the potential to help produce growers navigate packaging, food waste and loss, climate, social responsibility and regenerative agriculture.
Muruetagoiena asked McIntosh if packaging innovation and compliance are complementary efforts or are at odds. “In my world, they’re not going to get along,” she says.
McIntosh says produce companies will face fees regardless of whether using virgin materials that will incur higher penalties or maintaining a circular economy that will require a significant investment.
She says Naturipe “has worked closely with recyclers and CalRecycle in California to figure out how to make these regulations work, noting there are limited options for packaging that works with field-packed produce.”
“It’s how do we think outside the box and figure out how to make this all work and maintain the packaging we’re currently using, and it works in the field,” she says. “It’s trying to just survive at this point and be able to still deliver a great product, a healthy product that’s safe, with a reduced cost than they’re currently putting out there for us.”
Paap says as regulations are enacted, the guardrails established restrict innovation, but “there is always a light that’s lit when there is regulatory pressure; it does put fire under innovation.”
He says he doesn’t see plastics going away, but much like paper and metal, it will just be one of several options available.
“Because of that regulation, there’s just a further urgency and demand to find these alternatives,” he says.
