One of the leading proponents of sustainable produce packaging said the idea that plastic can be eliminated from the manufacturing process is an unrealistic goal and will not happen in his lifetime, though he quipped the younger panelists may witness it.

“Plastic is here to stay,” 63-year-old Kevin Kelly, CEO of Emerald Packaging, said at the “Sustainable Packaging: Reducing Plastics in the Produce Department” breakout session during the Organic Produce Summit, held July 10-11 in Monterey, CA.

Kelly, who served as the moderator of the session, is an active proponent of more environmentally friendly packaging. In fact, he reported that Emerald Packaging is a leader in developing packaging that reduces the use of plastic and utilizes post-consumer recycled materials. But he said plastic is used for a variety of very advantageous reasons and the industry is nowhere near eliminating it as a base material.

During the session, Kelly noted that the industry has to be pragmatic; and while it continues to innovate, in the short-term it cannot make plastic the villain. He also opined that reusing and reducing appear to have more agency in the near term than elimination

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As the host of the session, Kelly introduced three speakers who discussed some of the innovative ways they are reducing the use of plastic in their produce environments.

T. Bruce Taylor, vice president of organic, for Earthbound Farm, a division of Salinas, CA-based Taylor Farms, revealed that the use of plastic in its produce packaging is the number one complaint it fields from consumers. Consequently, the company is on a mission to reduce plastic and it has spent more than $20 million on that effort. In fact, it has replaced its rigid lid plastic on some of its ready-serve organic salads with a resealable film that has significantly reduced the use of plastic.

Taylor said using that material has increased the price of the packaging, which has led to an increase in the product price. “We think the organic consumer will pay for that,” he said, noting that they will vote with their dollars.  However, he added that elimination of plastic will significantly add to the price of the retail product because the packaging is still many times more expensive than the traditional plastic alternatives used by most. He didn’t seem convinced that the buyer of conventional product will be willing to shoulder a big increase in product cost.

During the course of the session, Taylor indicted several times that while Earthbound Farm does not rule out innovations that cost more, it does reject concepts that reduce the quality of the product and its shelf life. He noted that years of research have developed breathable films that allow its packaged salads to achieve 16 days of shelf life. They don’t appear to be willing to compromise on that. He also noted that each product and salad component have different properties. “It (the new packaging) works for spinach, but it’s not going to work for everything,” he said.

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Taylor added that while sustainable packaging is an attribute that consumers are looking for, it doesn’t top their list. In fact, he said research shows it is only the seventh most important purchase driver. Quality and price top the list.

Naomi Sakoda, director of product portfolio for Driscoll’s, discussed the berry company’s journey to find more sustainable packaging for its signature products. She said their number one goal is to reduce the use of plastic in their packaging, followed by trying to increase its recyclability.

Sakoda said the concept of creating more sustainable packaging has been an ongoing challenge with many barriers.  One of those barriers is the fact that many plastic products that are labeled as recyclable, in fact are never recycled. To be true to their mission, she said the company wants to switch to packaging that truly reduces the use of plastic not a plastic product that qualifies as recyclable but actually ends up in the landfill.

Toward that goal, Driscoll’s has introduced a berry container that has a base made out of a paper product and a rigid lid. The company is also experimenting with a three-pound cardboard box that is retail ready and doesn’t utilize any plastic.  Sakoda noted that in all of its research functionality is “super important” and the main driver of development.

The Driscoll executive said consumer confidence in the product is also a very important attribute. She noted that non-plastic packaging that hides the product and prevents the consumer from having a high level of assurance that the product is worthy of their purchase is a non-starter.

Rachel Irons is co-founder and CEO of Nude Food Markets, a two-unit retailer in Colorado that is committed to eliminating single use containers from its distribution stream. The company tries to purchase everything in bulk – from fresh produce to soap – and puts most everything that is not sold in bulk in reusable containers for its shoppers. Irons said most produce is either sold bulk or packaged in a “beautiful glass jar.” When those jars are returned, Nude Food cleans and sanitizes them for their next use.

During the session, Irons reported that the retailer’s initial customers were committed to the concept and embraced it enthusiastically.  In fact, when the Boulder store first opened in 2021, they had no trouble attracting shoppers that loved the idea.  With the opening of the second store in Denver earlier this year, and the continual need to attract more mainline consumers, Irons said consumer education has played an important role as they are asking for behavioral change, which is not easy to attain.

She also revealed that the company has conducted lots of customer research and has a strong handle on what its shoppers will do. For example, she said they do handle strawberries in plastic clamshells as their customers want those berries and it doesn’t work to repackage them in glass jars.

Irons did ask the other panelists about the effort to make the master containers totally recyclable. While Nude Food Markets has largely eliminated the use of non-recyclable material in its consumer-ready presentation, the company has its own issues recycling master containers. She said too many cartons contain non-recyclable corrugated material and wax additives. Both Taylor from Earthbound and Sakoda from Driscoll noted that they do have master cartons that are 100 percent recyclable.

By Tim Linden

About Tim Linden  

Tim Linden grew up in a produce family as both his father and grandfather spent their business careers on the wholesale terminal markets in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Tim graduated from San Diego State University in 1974 with a degree in journalism. Shortly thereafter he began his career at The Packer where he stayed for eight years, leaving in 1983 to join Western Growers as editor of its monthly magazine. In 1986, Tim launched Champ Publishing as an agricultural publishing specialty company.

Today he is a contract publisher for several trade associations and writes extensively on all aspects of the produce business. He began writing for The Produce News in 1997, and currently wears the title of Editor at Large.

Source: theproducenews.com