Robert van der Laan from Mediane has been around the world of packaging material for fresh produce, and particularly the conical sleeves, for a while now. After all these years, he’s still surprised that growers aren’t always interested in the food safety of their packaging material. Robert: “They produce plants, but in the end, they’re selling food. Every company producing, processing and transporting food, is legally required to guarantee food safety. Growers do everything possible to grow a sustainable and safe fresh, healthy product. It should therefore go without saying that the packaging in which the food is packed, is also safe.”
Robert thinks the first question a grower asks the packaging supplier, should be whether they are BRC or HACCP and ISO certified. “With a BRC certification, the grower is guaranteed that legislation and regulations, and product safety and product liability, are met. For example, in the UK our packaging wouldn’t even get on the shelves of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s or Morrisons without BRC certification. In other EU countries, the overview and inspections from retail on where and from whom the grower purchases his packaging materials, are not present or reduced. And that is odd.”
Mediane produces flow-pack film, laminates and sleeves and bags from clear, transparent films (both traditional plastics and bio-based films), printed in High Definition Flexo. Mediane was founded by Robert in 1992. Nowadays, they supply films to European countries. The North American market and Canada are serviced by Mediane through their own sales office and warehouse in Richmond, Virginia, Mediane North America LLC. Under BRC (HACCP) ISO inspection, Mediane produces more than 1.5 billion bags for various uses under one roof. They recently invested in macro-perforation, and in Q2 of this year, they’ll also start producing laminated films.
Sales team
At Mediane’s sales office in Vleuten, a small sales team is working hard to realise all this. A well-organised system helps them with it. They maximise the internet capabilities, giving customers real-time information about their orders and everything related to them. From booking the order through the online shop module to approving the artwork, following the delivery plan, order history, PDF, certificates ... everything can be arranged online by the customer. The company system optimally supports Mediane, and ensures a focus on the customer and providing service.For more information:
MEDIANE – Flexible Packaging Solutions
Robert van der Laan
P.O. Box 1623
3600 BP Maarssen
The Netherlands
+31 346 285029
www.mediane-flexibles.com
info@mediane.nl