Packaging company Long Life Solutions is hoping to accelerate its mission to aid the government in reducing food waste, with the launch of its SmartPunnet for soft fruit.
In recent tests on Spanish strawberries, at Writtle College, the weight loss of strawberries stored in SmartPunnets was minimal and in some cases the weight increased, thought to be due to accumulated condensation.
The weight loss of strawberries kept in SmartPunnets was between 0-2.7g, while the minimum weight loss of the control strawberries was 2.7g and the maximum 14.5g, depending on treatment.
LLS has also just heard that in recent trials in Australia, by soft fruit specialist Driscoll’s partner, OzFresh, strawberries kept in SmartPunnets showed no bacterial decomposition, even after 10 days of storage at 25°C.
Like the company’s previous Smart technology, the SmartPunnet has a highly permeable film, which allows the fruit to regulate its own gas exchange. The punnet walls also release an antibacterial substance when the gas exchange is activated.
“There is no gaseous injection, it is an organic process,” said LLS managing director, Andrew Wright.
“It is going to revolutionise the soft-fruit category. It is performing much better than we could have hoped for, even working in ambient temperatures, so we can deliver the consumer a better-tasting strawberry that stays fresh.”
Wright said the technology has received considerable support from retailers, which would not have occurred in the past.
“There was a time when retailers might have said they don’t want their strawberries to last longer because consumers repeat purchases more quickly that way,” he claimed.
“But we have proven through commercial trials that if we give them the technology to keep strawberries fresh, they are reducing in-store waste by up to 35 per cent.”
Wright said retail strawberry wastage costs around £2.7 million a year.
No comments yet