The Greenery will package chicory in Natura film from next year

Dutch fresh produce distribution company The Greenery plans to introduce its first produce packed in biopolymer film next year.

Hans Verwegen, market analyst for fresh produce at The Greenery, told EPN’s Bioplastics conference in Frankfurt yesterday that the company planned to begin packaging chicory in Natura Packaging’s bioplastic film in the Netherlands next year.

Chicory has been selected as a first candidate for biopolymer packaging because it is not currently supplied pre-packaged in the Netherlands. Verwegen said it was hoped that the move to pre-packing the product would allow it to develop added-value branding for its retail customers.

The Greenery is one of Europe’s largest fresh fruit and vegetable distribution groups with customers including Tesco and Sainsbury’s in the UK, and Aldi and Lidl in Germany. The company delivers some 2.5 billion pallet loads of fresh produce across Europe each year, using 1,000tpa of pallet wrap alone each year.