Organic Produce Industry Eyes Sustainable Packaging
There is a general consensus; if you are producing products organically, their packaging should be sustainable. The produce industry is shifting towards organic materials, i.e. both produce grower and produce packer are going green. Produce growers are growing things organically and produce packers are finding ways to pack them plastic free and in the most efficient way.
That being said, sustainable packaging is not an easy road. Produce packing is one of the major headaches in the produce industry right now. They are finding ways to make the packaging more sustainable, however, there is a lot of work to do.
Produce packers are not only finding the ways to make the packing sustainable for organic products, but for the non-organic products as well. The produce industry is not just limited to organic products and if sustainable packing is an option for everything, it will only get better. The United States government has clearly defined what constitutes as organic and sustainable and what doesn’t. So, sustainable packing can be a step in the right direction for the produce industry.
There are a number of solutions for this. Produce ERP helps the companies to make this process shift easier, such as Giro. They are leading the charge with sustainable packaging for fresh produce, such as compostable net clipped bags and welded bags, produced with corn starch etc. The process can be less daunting if more companies effectively incorporate the produce ERP. This will help them be in the circle of next generation for the produce industry.
If we are to dig deep in the produce industry, we see that apples are still being packed in trays, the produce packers are now trying to shift these trays into trays made from recycled newspapers, so there is less carbon footprint. The reason the produce industry is a little reluctant is based on the fact that sustainable packaging is usually not transparent, and they want to show off their product. It is a tradeoff they have to make in order to produce sustainable packaging for current technology. The produce is now also being packed in recyclable plastic bags, not as efficient as the other solutions, but still a step in the right direction for the produce packers.
Another major hurdle the produce industry faces in order to shift completely towards sustainable packaging is the “cost”. As the sustainable solutions, which are available right now aren’t as cost effective as their counterparts i.e. the packaging that is not sustainable and is bad for the environment. This is the reason the produce industry is a little slow in the process. There are many ways to tackle this, but the most suitable one according to the conditions of industries, is by incorporating produce ERP software. This can help the industry producers to properly organize and manage the cost of the sustainable packaging and make sure there is not much of a financial hit to the producers. It is the step in the right direction and the produce industry is currently graduating towards it.
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