This three day event in Berlin, showcasing the best in fruit and vegetables in the world, was, as ever, a good opportunity to catch up with new trends and innovations. The show features an innovation award, and Irish company Holfeld Plastics Ltd made the short list of 10 with their “Low Carbon rPETeCo” – packaging material consisting of 90% recycled plastic bottles.
rPETeCO uses 20% less material than conventional recycled PET, is lighter, more temperature resistant, and requires less cutting force. According to the manufacturer, the packaging has up to 20% smaller carbon footprint as well as better barrier characteristics for O2, CO2 and water vapour. Holsorb in the base eliminates the need for a soak pad. It has a non-plastic appearance, is available in a range of colours and can be colour matched for your product. Contact Holfeld Plastics for more details.
Bakker Barendrecht (Member of the UNIVEG Group), were the winners of the award with their “DIY fresh packs”, which are packages of mixed fruits/vegetables with additional ingredients and recipes for specific dishes. DIY fresh packs help consumers prepare a meal, soup or side dish using fresh ingredients. They are available in several varieties: asparagus soup (in spring), gazpacho, exotic salsa and tomato salsa (in summer), and lasagne, couscous and curry madras (all year), and include a recipe with a step-by-step guide based on the “no waste” principle. All fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices and couscous/lasagne sheets are provided in the right quantity to prepare a meal for four people. The vegetables are uncut and unwashed.
“Regal’in™ Apple” – Regalyou and Regalstar are two new apple varieties with an attractive 100% orange-red colour, a pleasing shape, and a slightly sweet aromatic taste with the right amount of acidity. Regal’in™ apples represent an extension of the Regal’in™ brand concept which up to now has only included different peach and nectarine varieties. It’s an interesting development in the increasing use of branding in fruit and vegetables.
Berry giant Driscoll’s had some interesting ideas for merchandising of berries in store. They looked at cross marketing options as a way of keeping consumer interest in their products, and driving sales through this. On the sweet side, they had books on baking, sweet ingredients like sugar, chocolate and vanilla, and a recipe card for chocolate raspberry brioche with mascarpone. They also had a selection of herbal teas, to encourage the use of berries in hot drinks. To cover the use of strawberries in savoury dishes, they had sesame oil, garlic and soy sauce, and a recipe card for blackberry shrimp skewers with sesame marinade.
For more information please contact michal.slawski@bordbia.ie
