Blueberry clamshell trends shift in these two ways

Growers and packers are using more top-seal clamshell packages for their blueberries to meet the shifting demand from consumers for less plastic. “It’s a peel-and-reseal top, kind of like you see on Oreos,” said Chelsea Consalo, vice president of produce operations for Consalo Family Farms, Egg Harbor City, N.J. “That uses 35% less plastic. Consalo’s role includes working on package design at her family’s sister company, Fresh Wave, Vineland, N.J., which handles packing, distribution and shipping.“There are just a lot of environmental trends as far as packaging that I’m seeing,” she said.

Consumers like the resealable aspect of this newer design, said Ryan Atwood, owning partner with Michael Hill of Mount Dora, Fla.-based H&A Farms, one of the largest blueberry packers on the East Coast. The company also owns or manages about 350 acres in blueberry production. “It’s more expensive for packing house and grower, but there’s a demand from consumers, so from retailers,” Atwood said. “It doesn’t pop open.”

The film that’s on top of the pint or quart clamshell requires a new expensive machine to do, but several New Jersey companies are doing it, said Denny Doyle, chairman of the New Jersey Blueberry Industry Advisory Council and owner of D.G. Doyle Farms, New Lisbon, N.J.

Another shift is the way the retail package is measured: using weight instead of volume. The pint is now a pound, Doyle said. “We were always about volume, filling the container. Now stores want it by weight. I think it’s a trend to keep everything more level. It’s a lot more expensive for our growers to do this, but it’s the demand of the large retailers, the Costcos, the Walmarts,” he said. “Retailers want consistency and known nature of it.”

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