Sustainable packaging for fruit and vegetables

Printed bowls and trays

Strawberries, apples, peppers, lettuce and mushrooms: RHIEM Packaging & Print supplies agriculture and retail with printed trays and trays made of cardboard and corrugated board for professional product presentation and safe transportation of fruit and vegetables.

It can only get tastier – both visually and in terms of taste: consumers are already enjoying sweet strawberries, freshly harvested tomatoes, crunchy vegetables and mushrooms. RHIEM Packaging & Print now also offers retailers and agricultural producers sustainable packaging for ripe fruit and healthy vegetables: the company manufactures trays and trays from corrugated cardboard and cardboard, which can be printed as required, and delivers them erected and ready to fill to save space.

“Fruit and vegetables vary in their sensitivity, but should be able to be packaged quickly and be optimally protected during transport, and retailers and markets also want to present the goods in an appetizing way,” explains Ulrich Treiber, Managing Director of RHIEM Packaging & Print. “Our bowls and trays can be individually printed and contoured. They are stable, partially waterproof and can be filled quickly. This means they meet all the requirements of retailers and food producers.”

Cardboard – the more sustainable alternative to plastic and wood

More and more consumers are deciding against plastic in markets and at fruit and vegetable counters in order to protect the environment and health. Boxes made of untreated chipboard have also come under fire because they promote mold growth and contain metal staples. Molded fiber packaging made from recycled material, on the other hand, is environmentally friendly but very cost-intensive to produce.

However, cardboard and corrugated cardboard offer much better and more flexible alternatives for the transportation and presentation of fresh food. RHIEM Packaging & Print uses different materials for this: in addition to traditional cardboard and corrugated cardboard, it also uses FSC-certified materials from sustainable forestry with varying levels of recycled content. Depending on the requirements, these are equipped with different finishes or functional layers – coated, water-repellent or greaseproof. RHIEM also offers climate-neutral production on request.

Freedom of design for shapes and colors

RHIEM prints and processes trays and trays in a wide variety of editions. The company aims to have produced and delivered up to 100 million fruit and vegetable packages by the end of the year. “The trays can be filled by hand or by machine, are compatible with standard retail tray systems and we also develop special formats for specific requirements with individual dimensions or double edge reinforcement for greater transport safety,” explains Dirk Nondorf, Managing Director of RHIEM Packaging & Print. “The variety of shapes available today for trays and bowls is inspiring; it offers plenty of scope for design and professional food presentation.” This freedom of design in combination with color printing also makes RHIEM’s cardboard trays interesting for other sensitive, loose foods – such as baked goods, sweets or cheese.

Cardboard and carton improve shelf life and hygiene

Corrugated board and cardboard ensure the hygiene that sensitive foodstuffs need along the supply chain from production to sale: they protect against knocks during packaging and transportation and improve shelf life because they compensate for moisture and climate during refrigerated storage. This prevents the formation of mold due to moisture build-up. Fruits and vegetables can be quickly packed, stacked and loaded in trays to save space. Last but not least, cardboard and carton trays are open to color and design: this simplifies and improves the presentation in retail.

“Corrugated board and cardboard are great materials for food,” Treiber and Nondorf are convinced: “They are perfectly hygienic, offer safety, are easy to handle and design. Consumers can reuse them or simply return them to the recycling cycle.