2020 was not an easy year for the packaging sector, though better-structured companies managed to fend for themselves. FreshPlaza talked about it with Fabio Zoboli, sales director at Infia.
FreshPlaza (FP): What can we say about 2020, in light of the pandemic?
Fabio Zoboli (FZ): The pandemic changed the dynamic of fresh produce sales in Europe. We have noticed an increased in packaged produce to meet the need for 'safety' and to speed up the purchasing process in supermarkets. In general, there was a considerable contraction in the sale of loose produce.
Another element that was particularly evident was the drop in imports from overseas for certain types of products. We noticed this phenomenon particularly at the start of the pandemic, when European retailers reduced imports as they were uncertain of what future sales would be.
Things went back to normal towards the summer, then became problematic again in winter. In India, for example, grape exporters suffered due to the lack of orders from Europe in December. As for us, 2020 was not easy. Rather than Covid, the difficulties for us were caused by the weather problems in Spain and Italy, which compromised spring and summer productions.
FP: How has packaging demand changed?
FZ: As I said, the pandemic increased the use of primary packaging. What changed was partly the type. Everything that was connected to restaurants, hotels and pastry shops saw a considerable drop in volumes. On the other hand, longer lasting products such as kiwifruit, apples, pears and their packaging saw a significant increase.
FP: Is there a foreign market in particular that grew and one that diminished?
FZ: In general, no markets registered a particular growth in 2020. Spain, like Italy, suffered from the considerable lack of fruit, which meant fewer volumes were handled.
FP: Based on the orders, what are the perspectives for the first few months of 2021?
FZ: January has not been particularly lively so far. The cold weather that hit Morocco, Spain and southern Italy blocked production. These phenomena, however, are typical of this period and there are no news of particular damage so I think that, provided there are no big problems, this should be a good start of the year.
FP: How is demand for R-PET 100%?
FZ: The world of materials is buzzing. Infia was the first to start producing with recycled raw material to obtain a real circular economy. What is positive is that the political world also seems to have understood that recycled and recyclable plastic is a sustainable alternative, as it protects the fruit while reducing the environmental impact of packaging.
FP: Any new products in mind?
FZ: We are developing new products that should be ready in the spring.
Contacts
INFIA S.r.L.
Viale Caduti di Via Fani, 85
47032 Bertinoro (FC) - Italy
Tel.: +39 0543 466 511
Fax: +39 0543 466 519
Email: commerciale@infia.it
Website: www.infia.it