Wrap tackles produce packaging myths with new guidelines

The guides will go some way to combat the common misconception that packaging fruit and vegetables, such as apples, onions and tomatoes, is excessive – a claim often levelled at produce such as cucumbers.

Wrap said it would be the first calculation of the total amount of fresh fruit and vegetable and packaging waste and would enable the organisation to develop guidance for product storage, handling and packaging.

Retail supply chain programme manager Charlotte Henderson said the results would “enable considerable economic and environmental benefits to companies operating across the supply chain” and urged firms to take part.

Cranfield University, grocery supply chain experts IGD and the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) are undertaking the research, and will examine the entire chain from packhouses to distribution and back of store.

FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney said: “The project will provide valuable information for the fresh produce sector on how to quantify and reduce both food and packaging waste.”

Wrap said the research would reflect differences in temperature management, susceptibility to ethylene and physical damage, as well as seasonality and country of origin and availability.

The products in the study are: apples, avocado, bananas, cabbage, citrus fruit, lettuce, onions, potatoes, raspberries, strawberries and tomatoes.

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