More packaging for fruit&veg

SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN Revitalizing consumption of fresh produce in largescale retail distribution goes by way of the rationalisation of packaging and logistics along the entire production-consumption chain. The sustainable development of the segment in the conference organized by Ipack-Ima for promoting Fruitech Innovation 2015.

Fruit and vegetable consumption is down (even if the sector shows growth in terms of value) but the trend can be turned around. Indeed, it would be right and proper to do so: fresh produce is good for the individual as it is for the economy. On top of that, foreign demand is sizeable and offers a multiplicity of growth opportunities, with the essential help of packaging and sustainable logistics.
This in a nutshell, the message transmitted by Coop and Ipack-Ima 2015 president Marco Pedroni, introducing the conference dedicated to Fruitech Innovation. In turn the merit goes to Imma Campana (customer business partner, Nielsen) for having squared up the phenomenon, with figures and reflections on Italian consumer inclinations, followed by many speakers who told of strategies and technological updates, offering interesting business cues.

Consumption: what should be known. In the confidence rating, Italian consumers are in second-to-last place, even behind the Greeks, who are having a tough time of it. Fear of losing ones job, the poor state of people’s personal finances, the tendency to save in order to face the difficulties of the future are at the basis of this mood (that, what is more, Campana tells us, does not immediately transfer onto behaviour). It is aboveall the young and families with small children and adolescents who are reducing consumption, deciding on the spur of the moment, limiting purchases down to the essential, looking for special offers, choosing the most inexpensive brands, buying saver formats… This though has not prevented – as Campana tells us - an increase in the purchase of bio products, more expensive as is wellknown, the same as health and wellbeing specialties (gluten-free +18%) and “naturally”, luxury products.

In terms of fresh produce, the Italians are saving on washing powder but not on fruit. In this field, quality is sought at the local market, but the best quality-cost ratio is to be found at the large retail stores, perhaps by way of reassuring private labels. The growth potential of fresh produce in modern distribution hence is interesting, Campana concludes, who also mentions other phenomena to be considered: the increase in the purchase of dried and cooked fruit; the fact that packed produce does better in the north rather than in southern Italy; that people are evermore on the lookout for sales promotions even when purchasing fresh produce.

The policies of the largescale retail trade. What will the big names do to increase the purchase of fresh produce in their super and hypermarkets? The talks by Maurizio Brasina, head of fruit&veg quality at Coop Italia, and Gabriele Nicotra, U2 and Unes Supermercati purchasing head, provide a series of interesting examples. And if Nicotra showed how his company has intercepted the need for quality by setting up stalls of loose fruit&veg “that make one feel one is at the market”, without naturally foregoing on the benefits of the packed product with their dedicated, rational, well-supplied and attractive sales lines, Brasina concentrated on the Coop concept of good packaging.

That aboveall, has to cost as little as possible and respect the environment, as recommended by the three concepts of Saving (50% of fruit&veg sold by the Coop is loose), Recycling (the use of RPet trays, less pollutant and less costly) and Reuse (of the 120 million movements made by the CPR circuit in 2013, as many as 65 regard Coop products).
Hence the manager mentioned the policies of rationalisation of logistics, to reduce the distance from the field to the shop, the correct management of the cold supply chain and super rapid picking, with daily deliveries to ensure max freshness. But this is not enough. The disadvantage of the fruit&veg islands is the deficit of communication that derives from the lack of packaging and relative labels. Coop has compensated for this by putting up large info panels on the origin of the produce, their nutritional properties etc.

«For rating the environmental impact of packaging – Brasina goes on to say – we resort to the LCA, that provides indepth results that can at times be unexpected. On this basis we have, for example, decided to develop a line of RPet trays for products to be consumed on the go, because they are more ecological. As well as that we put the material composition of the pack and the indications for the correct disposal on the same».

Last but not least, to respond to the service needs, the supply chain adopts, as need has it, antifog film to ensure the visibility of convenience produce and PLS films for bio products, packs for the microwave, open&close bags….
Despite this commitment all the same a lot still needs to be done: Italian largescale retail lacks category managers but also rationality and order with both loose and packed produce. Not to speak of the lack of information for the consumer: on the origin of the goods, price savings (often not perceived), the health content of fresh produce and the free time gained choosing convenience produce….

And the packaging producers? Alberto Maso, Nespak SpA fruit&veg packaging head and Fabrizio Radice, head of Corapack Srl, seem to be perfectly attuned to the needs expressed by the market.
Nespak documents the capacity to propose and innovate, with attention to costs. The main tools are a catalogue with thousands of continuously reviewed references, the reduction of the quantity of raw material used in the container, the frequent resorting to reusable systems and to RPet, as well as the production of trays designed for automatic filling «that enables an enormous reduction in costs without affecting quality».

Corapack draws attention to the equation “good=ripe=packed” as the cornerstone for a profitable quality policy: a specially designed packaging protects the mature product to the consumers’ satisfaction and avoids waste. The Como based company has upped its offer of freshness save containers for portioned produce, proposing monomaterial packaging systems to facilitate recycling while paying max heed to compostable materials, «even if it is unlikely that the consumer can tell the difference, and hence also handle them correctly in the post consumption collection phase».

Increase value, right from production. The promotion of consumption is “the business of the sector supply chain”. This has been documented, among other things, by the reports made by AOP Unolombardia (the prime Lombard fruit&veg producer concern association, totalling 12 producer organisations and around 1500 member companies), Sant Orsola Sca, small fruit “giant” and Colle d’Oro O.P. Complex and sophisticated the tools fielded.
Ambrogio de Ponti (AOP) shared with his audience the results of programming of the production as well as the many projects regarding packaging: “Vegapack”, for controlling the microbic proliferation and the modulation of the exchange of gases via the packaging; “full steam”, stand-up bags devised for ready washed Bonduelle vegetables, to be steam cooked direct in the pack; Linea Verde’s “Piatti Unici” , packed in a tray with three separate compartments, that keeps each ingredient fresh; Agronomia’s “Gourmé” chef dressing line; the collective “5 colors of wellbeing” brand, that encourages consumers to look after their health each day by eating at least 5 portions of vegetables of different colors… and much more.

Also up front the other producer concerns present at the conference, committed right from the genetics of the species up to shipment to the salespoint, going by way of conditioned storehouses and Rfid logistics (Loris Marchel, Sant’Orsola); the short supply chain and the use of modified atmosphere already in the harvesting phase (Carmelo Calabrese, Colle d’Oro). And yet again, Assomela’s brave US market penetration strategy (Alessandro Dalpiaz) with the support of the packaging that helps highlight the brand, safeguard quality and tell the fine story of Italy’s Trentino region apples, or Apofruit’s many success stories (Claudio Magnani) with the fundamental help of packaging as a protective tool, essential vehicle for rational logistics. And now, evermore a key competitive element.                         

Ipogeo: the underground warehouse
“The consumer is hungry, not only for food but for stories”. During the conference there were many appeals to highlight fresh produce, not wellknown enough to the urban consumer, who is thus unable to appreciate the contents - nutritional and health, but also social and cultural - of the same. Luca Granata, general manager of Melinda, has taken up the challenge and, with rare communicative capacity, told an extraordinary tale. That of Ipogeo, un underground warehouse that the Melinda brand apple producer consortium is building underneath its orchards, in the 17 km of tunnels dug by the neighbouring quarry company. A unique project, «so captivating that Wallmart has asked for exclusive distribution of Melinda apples. And is now telling our story around the world….and we are becoming famous».

Ipogeo has been developed with the help of Norwegian researchers – super experts in exploiting the subsoil – and tested out on a lot of 120 q of fruit preserved in the first cell prototype. The results of the experiment are stunning: building the warehouse facilities underground costs 25% less (estimated saving around 10 million euros); the quantity of electricity needed to keep it at the right temperature is 60% less; the underground cell does not require insulation, avoiding the purchase of polyurethane foam (and the related need to dispose of the same); the maintenance, insurance and like costs are down 30%.«And the quality of the fruit is better because the apples cool quicker».

Not only that. To cool the compressors, rainwater from a nearby underground lake is used; the same water is used to irrigate the orchards and, at the end of its cycle, it returns to the original basin. The overall saving of water resources is considerable and the local Municipalities are able to exploit the same for civic uses.
Lastly, Ipogeo has been dug in an ancient deposit of pure dolostone, extraordinarily beautiful. Making it accessible constitutes a real attraction, to be highlighted for the benefit of the entire community. «Aided by the fact that the warehouses are invisible, and in place of yet other warehouses which we really don’t need anymore, there will be new orchards, forming part of a spellbinding landscape».

Reduced entry to Expo 2015 for visitors to Ipack-Ima and related fairs. This is being negotiated by Ipack-Ima SpA to facilitate the entry to all events: the Rho Pero exhibition centre is just a few hundred metres away from the Universal Exposition.