News
French Ban on Plastic Packaging for Fruit and Vegetables Begins
A new law banning plastic packaging on most fruit and vegetables comes into effect in France from New Year’s day.
January 6, 2022
Horticulture
Case Studies
AVI Global Plast introduces 100% recycled PET punnets safe for food-contact
Food safety and hygiene are top priorities for considering use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content in food packaging. When AVI Global Plast introduced 80 to 90% recycled PET in films and packaging designs in 2013, they used state-of-the-art co-extrusion equipment to sandwich post-consumer material between virgin materials to deliver exotic fruits across 6 continents, fresh and contamination-free. These were certified by Intertek to authenticate the claim of using recycled content in the final finished pack.
December 3, 2021
News
France Bans Plastic Packaging for Fruits and Vegetables
PARIS, Oct 11 (Reuters) – France will ban plastic packaging for nearly all fruit and vegetables from January 2022 in a bid to reduce plastic waste, the environment ministry said on Monday.
October 15, 2021
News
Carbon-Based Non-Toxic and Reusable Wrapper to Increase Shelf- Life of Fruits
Indian scientists have developed a composite paper made of carbon (graphene oxide) loaded with preservatives that can be used as wrappers to help extend shelf life of fruits. Unlike the present preservative dipping technology, where the preservatives are adsorbed by the fruit, causing chronic toxicity to the consumers; here preservatives the wrapper releases the preservative only when needed. The wrapper can be reused, which is not possible with the present technology.
August 11, 2021
White Papers
Temperature Critical in Transport and Storage of Fresh Produce
Fresh produce degrades much more rapidly as temperatures rise. Cost and complexity of existing data loggers limit their use to pallet or container level. Low-cost liquid indicators can provide temperature / time monitoring down to the smallest packs, ensuring product quality is maintained throughout the lengthiest supply chains.
July 29, 2021
News
Strawberries tracked through QR and RFID combination
Belgian fresh fruit and vegetable auctioneers Coöperatie Hoogstraten has worked with RFID technology supplier Aucxis to provide visibility and to track the movements of its strawberries throughout the supply chain. The system enables it to ensure fast and efficient delivery of its empty cardboard trays and punnets to growers for packaging the fruit.
May 13, 2021
News
New compostable packaging doubles shelf life.
Tipa’s compostable packaging performs like a conventional plastic but decomposes in compost back into the soil with no toxic residue, microplastics or other pollutants. Its packaging solutions can also fit with industry machinery and manufacturing practicesThe company said the market is expected to increase from US$160.8bn to US$200.5bn by 2025.
February 10, 2021
Insights
How Packaging Defined Success for Kiwi in India
Zespri International— world’s largest marketer of kiwi fruit states that India is the strongest emergent market for kiwis adding that among all exotic fruits, Kiwi has witnessed the fastest growth, with a compound annual growth rate of 80-100%. Therefore, packaging for higher quantities of kiwi emerged and became a significant factor in its consumption growth.
November 10, 2020
News
Fresh produce protected by antimicrobial plastic additive
Smart Plastic additives are inserted into the production process in very small percentages along with other standard ingredients. These additives transform the plastic into a powerful agent that is highly effective against salmonella, listeria, E.coli, MRSA, and dozens of commons dangerous organisms.
August 28, 2020
News
Self-Healing Nanofiber Time-Temperature Indicator for Securing Cold Chains
A team from the Research Centre for Bio-based Chemistry at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) has developed a cold-chain safety sticker based on nano-fibre technology. The sticker indicates whether any cold-chain food products, such as fish, meat, or fruits and vegetables, may have spoiled, by being exposed to temperatures outside the permitted range.
July 23, 2020
News
MIT startup wraps food in silk for better shelf life
Cambridge Crops develops an edible, imperceptible coating that might replace plastic packaging to preserve meats and produce.
June 8, 2020
News
Edible ‘skins’ for extending shelf life get major boost
Scientists at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) based in Mohali, India, have developed non-toxic, edible coating materials to improve shelf life of fruits & vegetables based on wheat straw hemicellulosic polysaccharide (WP) and stearic acid derivatized oat bran polysaccharide (SAOP) that promise to overcome the problems of highly perishable produce going bad before reaching the consumer – currently running at 25-30 percent in that country.
June 5, 2020