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New Opportunities Await, But Will Your Packaging Get You There?

BIG LOSSES IN A CRITICAL INDUSTRY

The fresh fruit and vegetable industry has learned about the pitfalls of product transport the hard way. Reports suggest that some areas of this sector in Sub-Saharan Africa still suffer losses of between 17 – 25% of their produce before consumption. It’s a staggering ratio for a market that can’t afford the loss. It strains the success of small farming enterprises, chokes the nutrition supply to communities and forces a reliance on costly import channels.

So where exactly do these losses stem from? There are many factors responsible, but the main issues occur during pre-harvest, harvest, processing, distribution, and consumption. The distribution phase which contributes up to 10% of this loss has its own set of challenges that include difficult travel conditions, improper handling, and a reluctance from business owners to invest in suitable packaging solutions.

Packaging is certainly not the place to cut corners when looking to save. Mechanical damage, which refers to the physical impact on goods while in transit, is an almost inevitable challenge but is heavily compounded by poor packaging. Businesses that neglect this area lose unnecessary amounts of produce.

But there’s an even bigger loss; businesses that don’t give their packaging the attention it deserves miss vital chances to impress their markets. Products may arrive battered from transit, which could send the message that either the product or the customer is not worth investing in.

Giving attention to higher quality packaging that reduces vibrational impact offers one of the biggest areas of opportunity for producers looking to tighten up their operations and wow consumers. Introducing more robust solutions prevents physical damage to produce and has been shown to cut post-harvest losses and increase the supply of fresh goods to consumers.

UNPACKING THE SOLUTIONS

Solutions to improve the resilience of fresh produce packaging have cropped up all over the world. Indian companies that added structural liners to their crates reduced guava damage by 12%. Similar initiatives in a variety of African countries also yielded positive results when higher-quality shock-absorbing packaging solutions were introduced.

In each of these cases, the improvements to packaging strength reduced losses so significantly that business owners began making their packaging a much bigger priority. Not only did their interventions cut mechanical injury-related losses but they also started seeing how more creative packaging could enhance packing efficiency and cut transport costs.

Companies that have adopted this approach are enjoying the increase in opportunities that come with packaging innovation. They have greater access to markets because their packaging can handle more demanding journeys and can get higher yields to their regular customers.

IMPRESS CONSUMERS WITH QUALITY PACKAGING