Garlic and herb packaging options are plentiful

There’s no shortage of packaging options from garlic and herb suppliers, but a few pack sizes seem to have gained favor with buyers.

Three- and five-count vexar bags are the most popular garlic packages offered by Christopher Ranch, Gilroy, Calif., said president Bill Christopher.

“People like to be able to grab a bag, know where it’s from and that they’re all going to be good bulbs,” he said. “It’s very convenient for them.”

On the peeled side, small vacuum-sealed packs of six to eight cloves are gaining traction, he said.

Although I Love Produce LLC, West Grove, Pa., offers customers a wealth of packages to choose from, five-bulb packaged garlic and 30-pound loose garlic continue to dominate the fresh category for the retail sector, said president Jim Provost.

Five-pound units of peeled garlic are the primary option for foodservice customers.

At Spice World Inc., Orlando, Fla., “We offer every kind of pack,” said Louis Hymel, director of purchasing and marketing.

Peeled, ready-to-use product, value-added garlic and squeeze garlic are products consumers love because they have less time to peel and chop their own garlic, he said.

“It’s a real convenient, value-added product for consumers,” Hymel said.

Spice World markets a 9.5-ounce squeeze jar of garlic as well as sizes 20 ounces and larger.

A couple of major big-box chains order 30-pound boxes containing 15 2-pound bags or 10 3-pound bags of garlic, said Joe Lane, an owner of The Garlic Co., Shafter, Calif.

Wal-Mart requests 30-pound reusable plastic containers.

Foodservice customers order mostly 5-pound jars or 5-pound bags packed four or six per case, he said.

Cartons of 12 4-ounce net bags are a popular offering from Maurice A. Auerbach Inc., Seacaucus, N.J., said Bruce Klein, marketing director.

“It’s a good size for a consumer pack,” he said. “It looks really nice hanging on a clip strip or in a basket.”

The company can make any size net bag up to 10 pounds, he said.

The firm also puts out old-style packs of two heads of garlic in an overwrapped box.

Auerbach packs 8-ounce clamshells and, for foodservice, 5-pound jars of peeled garlic.

When it comes to herbs, “We basically do any packaging that clients like,” said Camilo Penalosa, managing director at Miami-based Infinite Herbs & Specialties LLC.

That includes loose product, bag-in-a-box and clamshell containers, he said.

In the future, the industry likely will move into bags exclusively because bags are easier to machine pack, Penalosa said.

In addition, bags can be printed, so there’s no need to apply stickers to the product. Bags require less packing material, and they’re easier to recycle than other materials, he said.

“Every day, we’re getting more green,” he said.

The company packs RPCs for a number of clients and farms.

“They work well as long as you have a certain volume,” Penalosa said.

He expects to see more RPCs as larger companies adopt them, resulting in more containers, more pickup locations and lower cost of service to pick up and deliver them.

North Shore Living Herbs has two main packaging options, said Chris Wada, marketing manager for the Thermal, Calif.-based company.

One is potted and the other is packaged clamshell. “The key features of both products and of the company in general are the fact that (the herbs) are still living,” he said. “All products are grown and then packed and shipped to retail with the roots still intact.”

The company offers up to 22 varieties in packaged clamshells and 12 potted varieties.