Boskovich Fresh Food Group seeks an evolution in produce packaging
David Adams, vice president of retail sales and marketing for Boskovich Fresh Food Group’s Fresh Prep division, has spent most of his time at the company on a seemingly odd task:
Find packaging that is designed to literally fall apart.
The company’s quest to find packaging that is home compostable led Adams, who joined Boskovich Fresh Food Group (formerly Boskovich Farms) in October 2018, to many dead ends. He found success, however, with separate products: a film for bags and a fiber tray. Fresh Prep’s first product with home compostable packaging, a line of salads under the new Fair Earth Farms brand, made a small debut in August.
The salads are available only at the Bristol Farms’ La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara, but Adams said they’ll roll out gradually at other retailers on the West Coast. The Bristol Farms packaging uses just the film bag with three servings, but Fresh Prep also offers them in single-serve packs with the tray.
The trays, certified by Cedar Grove Composting Inc. to completely degrade in 63 days, was ideal for Fresh Prep’s goal, Adams said, but there was no way to use a top seal lid. Adams said he found the answer in the home compostable film, which recently came on the market.
The salads in the Fair Earth Farms line are:
- Bacon Buttermilk
- Coconut Cashew Crunch
- Mexican Caesar
- Sierra Sunrise
- Two-Way Spinach (for fresh or sautéed)
- Chipotle Coleslaw.
The company introduced the line at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit last fall, and showcased it at United Fresh LIVE! virtual show in June. The unique restaurant-inspired recipes have been a hit in sampling, and the home-compostable packaging has only added to interest in the Fresh Prep value-added plans, Adams said.
A survey of 200 consumers showed that while a majority of them had not heard of home-compostable packaging before, 70% said they’d pay more for such an option. Adams said Boskovich Fresh Food Group’s research showed consumers would pay 10-15% more, and that’s what retail pricing will reflect.
The products are designed to remove the guilt some consumer feel
“There are brands like Trader Joe’s that say this is where they want to go,” Adams said. Fresh Prep will be presenting the packaging to leading retailers across the U.S.
In doing so, Boskovich Fresh Food Group is mindful of the prevalence of plastic packaging used by the industry.
“We’re trying to be very careful about how we go about doing this so we don’t alienate the rest of the treade … we don’t want to insult consumers or the trade,” he said.
“We’d like for it to be an evolution rather than a revolution,” Adams said. “And it will be driven by how the consumer leverages their wallet, just as it was with organics.”
And although consumers don’t see packaging used by foodservice operators, Adams said companies are expressing interest.
The packages note the special properties of the film and trays, and the company plans to use social media to inform consumers. An older method of reaching consumers will also be employed at retail.
“It’s a fun challenge, but we’ve been told (by retailers) ‘We don’t like point-of-purchase materials on the shelf,’” Adams said. “In fact we have people tear it down, yet we’re going to ask them to put it up. The reason being that there will be a (learning) curve until people actually get it.”
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