The months of December until March will be dominated by organic grapes from South Africa at OTC Organics, distributor of organic fruit and vegetables. Last year, the first steps were taken in the development of sustainable packaging. This year the packaging line for grapes has been expanded with two new sustainable alternatives.
Reduce plastic in the chain
Bart van der Vliet, Sales & Marketing Manager at OTC Organics explains: “The reduction of plastic packaging for fruit and vegetables is and will remain an important and much-discussed theme. Many products can be sold without packaging. For some products this is more complicated, such as for the organic grapes. At OTC Organics we have developed new packaging to further reduce the presence of plastic in the chain.”
Recyclable grape packaging
Bart: “You can’t develop a project like this on your own. This year, we have developed two new fully recyclable grape packaging in collaboration with our grape suppliers, JASA Packaging Solutions and customers. We have a version in which a cardboard tray with the FSC quality mark is combined with a transparent 100% r-PET lid. R-PET stands for recycled (r) Polyethylene Terephthalate known from the environmentally friendly soft drink bottles. The use of r-PET material has a number of important advantages: it is fully recyclable and no new raw materials have been used. The other version that we can offer is the same cardboard tray with FSC quality mark that is combined with a cardboard sleeve, which is illustrated. Besides the fact that it is a sustainable packaging, the consumer can see the content of the packaging very well through the many openings in the cardboard, despite the lack of transparent plastic. This new packaging therefore consists entirely of FSC certified paper and can easily be recycled after use.
The call for sustainable packaging by our wholesale customers has also been honored. This season we only offer the so-called carry bags made of paper. By already packing the grapes in cardboard trays in the country of origin, OTC Organics is taking another big step in our efforts to further reduce unnecessary use of plastic in the chain.”
Wide range of grape varieties
Bart: “Whether you are looking for white, black or red grapes: you will find them at OTC Organics. Thanks to our extensive network of professional grape growers in South Africa, we can provide you with various varieties of organic seedless or seeded grapes. During the delivery period, we receive fresh organic grapes every week from our South African suppliers Orex Export, Carpe Diem and Lushof Fruit. We start the season in December with white seedless grapes (Early sweet, Prime, Sugraone, Regal, Thompson, Sundance, Arra fifiteen, Sweet Globe). Then in January we also receive seedless red grapes (Evans Delight, Flame, Desert Dawn, Sweet Celebration , Jack’s Salute, Crimson, Allison) and black seedless grapes (Midnight, Autum Royal, Arra 14 and Melody) followed by seeded grapes (Red globe (Red), Dan Ben Hanna (Black)).
For more information:
Bart van der Vliet
OTC Organics
Email: [email protected]
www.otcorganics.com