More sustainable packaging dominates new product showcase at SEPC

Retailers interested in more sustainable packaging had many options to consider at the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure event in early April.

The new product showcase in particular had a slew of items packaged in material touted as compostable, recyclable or made with recycled content.

Some of the options have already been tested in the market by different retailers, while other new packaging solutions are in the final stages of development or just now making their debut.

Randy Shell, vice president of business and program development for Bancroft, Wis.-based RPE, said the company has been testing for about eight months a compostable bag for its potatoes.

The bag will have mesh windows so the consumer still has visibility of the product, so that means the mesh also needs to be compostable, as does the string used to seal the bag. Also, the bag – and the mesh – has to be strong enough to handle potatoes tumbling into it in the automated packing process.

Shell said RPE has almost perfected the packaging and will be launching it shortly. The new bags will first be available for the company’s organic products.

“The consumer’s willing to pay a little bit more for organics, so it’s a little bit easier on the organic side,” Shell said. “On the conventional side it’s very competitive and margins are very tight, so that one’s going to take a little bit to tackle.

“I think eventually what you’ll see, it’s like everything else – once you get into mass production, the cost of the bag will actually come down and we’ll be closer to this, but I think we’re probably maybe a year or two away from that, so either we’re going to have to take tighter margin or the retailer’s going to have to take a little tighter margin,” Shell said.

He expects that the packaging will have appeal beyond core organic consumers.

“The consumer for organics, they’re going to be most interested in this packaging, although we’re seeing more and more people concerned about plastics and things like that, so we believe this line will expand very quickly once we perfect everything,” Shell said.

Ridge Spring, S.C.-based Titan Farms had been working on a recyclable four-count carrier for peaches with both sustainability and e-commerce in mind before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March of last year, said key account manager Matt Cornwell. The company tested it with several customers in 2020 and got great feedback.

“We’re finding it’s not cannibalizing the bulk – it’s just incremental,” said vice president of sales and marketing Daryl Johnston. “Our whole focus is more consumers to the category.”

He noted that having a packaged option to go with the bulk also creates some space for the company to tell its story. The container highlights that the peaches were grown on a family farm, calls out their flavor, notes that the packaging is 100% recyclable, and encourages shoppers to visit the company website and tag Titan Farms on social media if they enjoy the fruit.

Johnston said the package is designed to appeal to millennial consumers in particular.

“I think we’re getting to a point now where a lot of people aren’t buying the product, they’re buying the company that’s making the product,” Johnston said.

Wenatchee, Wash.-based Starr Ranch Growers showcased at the event a new recyclable pouch bag that it will be using for all its apples, pears and cherries in the future.

Finding a product with good enough visibility was one hurdle; another was finding a recyclable zipper, said national marketing representative Brent Shammo. Making sure the packaging – particularly the handle of the bag – had the strength of a traditional pouch bag was another consideration.

The next key part of the process is developing messaging for the bag so that consumers know they can simply put it in their recycling bin once they’re done with it. Interest among retailers has been strong.

“We’re getting a lot of feedback that people want to try them,” Shammo said. “The price is a little bit more expensive, but as a company we care about sustainability, we think it’s better to do for the environment, so it’s worth it to us to just spend a little bit more money, get these bags and get everything in them.”

He noted that last year the company offered a paper-backed pouch bag as a way to reduce plastic, so having a 100% recyclable pouch bag this year is the natural evolution for the company. Starr Ranch could be done with non-recyclable plastic in its packaging in the next couple years, he said.

Other companies that noted sustainable packaging in their new product showcase entries included Michigan Fresh Marketing, Grimmway Farms, Lipman Family Farms, Mission Produce, Honeybear Brands, Hollandia Produce, Red Sun Farms and Sage Fruit Co.