On-the-go packaging launched

Produce Packaging has launched a versatile marketing solution to help health-conscious consumers pick up fresh produce on-the-go.

The company has joined forces with UK produce suppliers to design an attractive point of sale stand to hold individually-packaged apples and other fruits.

The initiative is to be targeted at independent retailers, station platforms, garage forecourts and any other outlet where consumers would be keen to buy conveniently packaged small quantities of fruit, according to Mark Tierney, general manager at Produce Packaging, pictured far right with Nigel Stewart, quality manager at Norman Collett. He said: “We have been developing the idea with Norman Collett for top fruit and are hoping to use it for a range of products. We have been speaking to various tomato growers and grape importers and the net result has been this POS stand which can accommodate a whole host of items.”

Produce Packaging has designed a range of hinge-lidded punnets aimed at the time-poor consumer, interested in replacing their habitual confectionery bar with a protected but accessible fresh product.

“We developed the idea for people spending a lot of time in cars, looking for a healthy option and wanting units which are easy to open and close,” said Tierney. “You will always get a niche market of people wanting to buy in small quantities and the reality is you have to present it well to make it attractive to them.”

But given the rise in status of the local one-stop-shop buying mentality, the opportunities for the concept should be many and varied, he claimed.

And the company is keen to roll out the franchise in every direction. “It is really very versatile,” he said. “We have developed two combinations, either for soft fruit to be put into a chiller or for ambient conditions next to the counter.