Great news for everyone who dislikes the fact that organic fruits and vegetables are packed in plastic. In March the Dutch organic specialist Eosta won the national Packaging Award 2018 for not packing at all, but marking the products with Natural Branding!
The jury commented: “Due to the laser coding of fruit, Eosta has introduced a system change that encourages people to think: whether it is necessary to pack at all. It creates awareness among the consumer and it shows that the packaging can be completely eliminated.”
Paul Hendriks, packaging expert at Eosta, said: “We are the proud winners of this award. We think that green consumers will be delighted, because research shows again and again that they disapprove of plastic packaging. The most sustainable way to pack is not to pack. But in practice it was difficult to realize this in the supermarkets, due to the obligation that they must distinguish organic from non-organic products. With Natural Branding it is possible.”
Natural Branding is the organic approach to marking fruits and vegetables with a laser. In the process, pigment is removed from the outer layer of the peel. This contact-free method was approved by EU Organic certifier SKAL, as no additional substances are used, and the method is so superficial that it has no effect on taste or shelf life. The energy needed for to mark a product is less than 1% of the energy needed for a sticker. The biggest advantage of this innovation is that it is no longer necessary to pack the organic products in harmful plastic foil.