At Fruit Logistica 2020, Blue Whale presented its tray for 4 fruits “Elément Terre Bio” made of 99.6% cardboard. “We started developing the project a little before the beginning of the season in September. After working on the design of the tray for a few months, we decided to present it to our clients and to launch it at Fruit Logistica,” explains Benjamin Vincent, organic product manager at Blue Whale.
“Today, about a third of the sales for our range “Elément Terre Bio” is pre-packaged in trays and bags. For nearly two years, we have been replacing plastic bags with home-compost bags. Our long-term objective is to replace all our stretch-film and flow-pack trays with cardboard trays.”
The 4-fruit tray is entirely recyclable and made of cardboard exclusively. The strip around the tray is made of 96% cardboard. “The amount of plastic represents only a minimal part of the weight of the packaging, namely 0.4%, but we work towards eliminating plastic completely without altering the solidity of the packaging, in order to obtain a 100% cardboard tray, surrounded by a 100% cardboard strip,” explains Benjamin. “Moreover, our manufacturers, both for the strip and the tray, are French.”
Today, the late variety Dalinette, whose season will end in June, will be the first organic apple of the “Elément Terre Bio” range to be offered in this new cardboard packaging. “Very soon, we will receive trays for 6 fruits and we are also expecting an 8-fruit format. The first products were made on Tuesday. Some stores already showed some interest for the 4-fruit trays. We are therefore in a launching phase and will be in the stores in a couple of weeks.”
At first, Blue Whale will sell its new product on the French and Belgian markets. “Although this represents an additional cost and some clients are still at the beginning of their transition, the new regulations help us go in that direction,” explains Benjamin. “And as far as we are concerned, we are trying to be as responsive as possible to offer something consistent for our ‘Elément Terre Bio’ range.”
For more information:
Benjamin Vincent
Blue Whale
Phone: +33 6 86 57 28 26
benjamin@blue-whale.com
www.blue-whale.com