At the end of October, AGF-Holland announced a plastic-free packaging line for the entire fruit and vegetable department. Under the name Johannes, the wholesaler is bringing a line of baskets, bowls and banderoles made from specially developed natural cardboard on to the market. The material is 100% biodegradable and this week, Jumbo entrepreneur Arnaud van de Graaf from Soest will run a pilot to test the new line.
“We are proud that this Jumbo entrepreneur is starting with the new line in such a big way,” says Johannes Janssen. “He sees in his store that there is frustration among customers as to why so many fresh produce products are still being packaged in plastic. I expect, given the worldwide protest trend, that this will only increase. He has therefore decided to to run a pilot with a large part of its fresh produce department.
“Arnaud van de Graaf is now the first and we will use these weeks of Christmas shopping to see which packaging and products are the most popular. Not every supermarket entrepreneur is waiting to change their shelves before Christmas. That’s why it shows courage that he is now trialing this and for us it is a nice test pilot to monitor how the sale goes before we get a big start with this packaging line in January, “says Johannes.
“There was no shortage of interest in recent weeks. Many supermarket entrepreneurs and vegetable chefs come to us with questions because they want to make a sustainability move. That is possible with this packaging. The packaging is made of unbleached, lightweight bio-paper. The material of this natural packaging is 100% biodegradable. This material can be recycled up to seven times. With this cradle to cradle packaging line we are working step by step towards a plastic-free future, “says Johannes.
The strength of this concept is that it can be applied to most of the fresh produce department, from strawberries to hard fruit and from mandarins to tomatoes. At Arnoud van de Graaf we can see a great deal of the packaging options and that is why we have a considerable surface area of the fresh produce department at our disposal. Interested parties are very welcome to come and have a look, because we are small and flexible enough to switch quickly and at the same time have sufficient capacity to start multiple test pilots,” Johannes concludes enthusiastically.
Source: Fresh Plaza
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