Today’s packaging has been driven to absurd lengths by the needs of extended supply chains, brand differentiation with associated added value and retailer convenience. The packaging industry and our supermarkets always argue that their packaging is for our benefit; to enhance, inform and protect. Far from creating waste, they frequently argue that it reduces waste through spoilage. It is true that, for some products, it protects from bruising, dehydration, sometimes preserves hygiene and can extend shelf life. But we and our planet are paying a heavy price; packaging makes up 60% of household waste and plastic food packaging accounts for 4 % of all crude oil usage.

 

The packaging used on fruit and vegetables is largely determined by supermarkets yet it is excluded from for their carbon footprint by those who have calculated it. Perhaps this is why, despite the green proclamations of supermarkets, I see little evidence of any genuine desire to reduce or reuse packaging.  Recyclable and compostable packaging are very poor second bests to using less in the first place; even if 100% of packaging was recycled (currently only about 20% is) this would reduce the associated emissions by less than 50%.

 

So how can we sensibly reduce packaging? Cauliflowers, most cabbages and many lettuces all grow their own packaging in the form of outer leaves which are normally trimmed off and discarded only to be replaced by a plastic bag. At Riverford we leave a few more leaves on and urge our customers not to judge quality by the outer leaves which may be tattered and tired; most accept this and are happy to do their own trimming to save a bag. Most roots don’t need any packaging at all but are often bagged and wrapped just as a means of carrying a label. Unfortunately, because of the need for differentiation at the till, in supermarkets organic produce tends to carry even more packaging than conventional.

 

Flow wrappers have revolutionised the fruit and veg. packing industry. If you sometimes wonder why something is in a tray and then wrapped in plastic, the reason is that the machine needs the tray to work efficiently; you and the peppers, beans or avocadoes don’t.

 

The demand for wasteful packaging is exasperated by a combination of ignorance and intolerance of on the part of customers of any sign of wilting. This is exasperated by extended supply chains leading to the need to maintain apparent freshness over miles of distribution. Hence cucumbers are almost always wrapped at source to retain turgidity and celery is invariably sold in a bag 

 

so what are we doing about it at Riverford?

 

Working with the government sponsored Envirowise Low Carbon Packaging Design Club we have been able to reduce the weight and thickness and hence the energy used in making the plastic bags and punnets that we do use. Apart from this they had little to recommend because our packaging was already considered pretty minimal. Today I feel fairly comfortable with the level of packaging in the boxes. We have reduced the bagging of green produce as far as we can go without upsetting customers with wilting. Many years ago we just put the roots in the bottom of the boxes loose but they rolled around, got mixed up and made a mess of the clean produce and the boxes. Netting the onions uses minimal plastic. The potatoes benefit from paper to exclude light and reduce greening. My one area of uneasiness is the plastic bagging of the carrots which often seems unnecessary.