Please enjoy this guest post, provided by Durst Organic Growers.
Plastic is ubiquitous in the produce industry. We, along with many other farmers, depend on it for hauling produce out of the field, transporting produce around the farm, wrapping our pallets, shipping our produce, irrigating our crops, and many other aspects of our farm operation. On one hand, plastic is great—it is cheap, and can be made to be thin and flexible, or thick and rigid. It can be waterproof or perforated, formed into any shape, and extremely lightweight. However, on the other hand, we can’t deny the fact that plastic does not degrade or decompose.
Plastic manufactured for our uses today will still be around when our great-great-grandchildren are buying produce. This can sometimes feel like being stuck between a rock and a hard place when operating within a system so dependent on this material. How do we maintain convenience and ease in packing, yet decrease the amount of non-compostable materials in our waste stream?
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Movement Towards More Sustainable Packaging Materials
Jim and Deborah Durst, the owners of Durst Organic Growers, were never quite sold on the idea of integrating plastic into their farm packaging operations, but for years were unable to find reasonable alternatives. Last year, in the Spring of 2017, they finally found an opportunity to test out an alternative material. They had been in talks with a packaging company that they had been working with for years that was launching a new plastic-free, paper-based line. This is right when I started working for the farm, which allowed me to witness and be intimately involved in this transition.
We decided to use the new material to pack our pints of cherry tomatoes (marketed under the name “Hungry Hollow” by Durst Organic Growers), replacing those little, green, plastic baskets that you are probably very familiar with. Cherry tomatoes are our biggest crop, and we knew that by making this decision we would undoubtedly be avoiding the use of thousands of these plastic baskets.
Questions Asked Prior to Switching to More Sustainable Packaging
Before the new pints could go into production, we faced many decisions about the design of the new pints. We were particularly concerned about the factors that could impact the ultimate quality of the product:
- How much air movement is possible?
- Can the containers stand up to some moisture?
- Will the glue that holds them together stand up to high temperatures in the field and remain rigid and protective?
We also had to think about how the new design would be received and integrated into retailer displays. You see, with plastic, none of these issues had been a problem. The plastic pints were durable, waterproof, offered great visibility and airflow, and never broke. In fact, the extreme durability was the exact reason we were making this shift. It was challenging to completely re-think our packaging like this, but in the end it enabled us to develop an alternative that met all of our needs.
Customer Reception to More Sustainable Packaging Materials
We began packing into the new pints in June of 2017. Our biggest retail buyers supported us and our customers loved it. It is not uncommon for us to receive calls and emails from customers regarding our produce, but we started receiving messages solely about the packaging. Many people thanked us for simply providing them with a more environmentally minded option. This influx was partially influenced by the fact that we now had our names and contact information printed on the pints, something that would have been impossible with the plastic pints. We began to be recognized as the growers alongside our produce, and this information was going home with our customers.
Amount of Plastic that has been Avoided
On October 29th we harvested our last box of cherry tomatoes for the 2018 season. We are proud to say that in the two summers since launching the new packaging, we have avoided the use of over 6.5 million plastic pint baskets by converting to paper. We hope our customers recognize the importance of this transition for us, and support us as we work on transitioning the other packaging on our farm—a formidable task. The new pints were likely accepted in the beginning without too much complaint because they were quite similar to the previous plastic version in shape and size.
Issues with Converting Packaging Materials to More Sustainable Options
I don’t think the conversion of our other packaging will be quite so easy. For example, we designed and tested out a paper container for our snap peas earlier this spring and realized it was an entirely different process. Being a cool weather crop that can easily dehydrate if exposed to dry, warm conditions, peas are usually chilled and sometimes lightly misted in retail settings. This means packages need to be water resistant and not so absorbent as to pull moisture from the peas. They also need a good amount of airflow during transportation and on shelves to avoid spoilage of any sort. Snap peas are commonly packed into heat sealed, perforated plastic bags, which allow for high visibility, protection of the product, and easy movement of air and water. As you can probably imagine, developing an alternative made out of paper that addresses all of these concerns is not easy.
If you are interested in looking into alternative packaging materials, know that the process will look very different for everyone depending on crop and packaging needs. Making something like this a reality in your business is heavily dependent on packaging companies around you and whether they offer anything like this on a large scale. Technology is also a limiting factor. People around the globe are currently researching biomaterials that could eventually provide alternatives that more closely resemble plastic, but they are far from being offered commercially. Despite these limitations, plastic-free packaging is taking off. Many farms around us and throughout the state of California have also replaced their plastic pint baskets and clamshell containers with paper, and I think we will continue to see more as the industry develops.
Packaging may not be fascinating, or even interesting, to many people, but it is a reality in the world of produce. We changed one, albeit significant, factor in our packaging operation and were able to decrease the amount of new plastic in the world by 6.5 million plastic baskets. For us, that feels like a step in the right direction.
More About Durst Organic Growers
This guest post was written by Natalie Ostrowski, who studied sustainable agriculture at UC Davis and works for Durst Organic Growers. Durst Organic Growers has been growing organic produce in Northern California since the late 1980’s and is well known for their asparagus, tomatoes, melon, and winter squash. They rely on crop rotation, cover cropping, and meticulous variety selection to grow their produce for wholesale markets. To learn more about them, you can visit their website, or find them on Instagram and/or Facebook.
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Hi,
Im am very interested in the organic produce in the big market. Im one of the small supplier who supply my produce to some off our hotel and small markets, but im interested to learn how to pack my vegetables to the markets. Help me with some broachers, how to go about.