Maglio Cos., Milwaukee, Wis., has introduced new options for its Readyripe watermelon pouch.
The pouch is now available in two sizes and is available with different materials depending on shelf-life needs of retailers, according to a news release.
The company is offering bag sizes that will work for 45-count size bulk bin watermelon and 60-count bulk bin sizes; previously, only pouch sizes for 45-count watermelon were available.
The company launched the gusseted pouch for fresh quartered watermelon in 2015.
“The development of the patented pouch took several years and significant field-testing to perfect it,” Sam Maglio, president and CEO, said in the release. “We wanted to get the technology just right.”
The pouch regulates oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor transmission rates, according to the company, extending shelf life.
“The reason we have developed additional options for the Readyripe pouch is that some high-volume retailers have expressed to us that they do not always need the highest level of technological enhancement, but still want to maintain the convenience for their customers and take advantage of the production savings,” Maglio said in the release.
According to the release, time and motion studies with grocers show that the Readyripe pouch reduces watermelon production time. The overwrap method can take up to three times longer than the Readyripe pouch to prepare quarter slices of watermelon for display in the store, according to the release. The Readyripe pouch is now used in about 6,600 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada and sales are expanding to Europe, according to the company.
