Over the last years, blueberry sales have exploded… along with the amount of plastic boxes they are sold in. This is a thorn in the side of organic distributor Eosta, who now offers three plastic-free packaging alternatives for blueberries. Let’s make the berries plastic-free! And organic, because that saves 4.7 litres of water per kg of berries.
Paul Hendriks, Eosta’s innovative packaging manager who previously drew the attention of the international media with Natural Branding (laser marking), cardboard from sugar cane waste material and other sustainable packaging innovations, is now working to make the blueberries plastic free. His credo: “The most sustainable packaging is no packaging.” Eosta now has three plastic-free packaging options for the berries and a fourth is in the making.
2.3 million litres of water saved
Plastic is not Eosta’s only point of concern. It was recently reported by German media that the water use of berry cultivation is a problematic issue in the south of Spain, where it causes water scarcity in the Coto de Donaña nature reserve. Using Eosta’s ticker data, stores can show that organic berries perform better. Calculations by Soil & More Impacts show that our organic blueberries use 4.7 liters less water per kilo of berries. For all the berries that Eosta imports annually, this saves up to 2.3 million liters of water.
Plastic-free berries #1: sugarcane cardboard tray
Why pack in plastic if you can also use sustainable cardboard packaging? Eosta offers sugarcane cardboard trays for 200 or 250 grams. Exactly eight trays fit in a flat box, so that looks great.
Plastic-free berries #2: the shaker
Eosta has two types of shakers available (cups made of sugarcane waste cardboard) to put berries in, one that is completely plastic-free and one with a transparent bioplastic window. This packaging is also suitable for the “to-go” market.
Plastic-free berries #3: the radical solution
Why pack if you can avoid it? Some of Eosta’s health food clients in Germany buy the berries in bulk and offer them unpacked in the store. The consumer puts the berries into a paper bag or a container of his choice.
Nature & More berry growers
Would you like to know more about our organic blueberries? Then take a look at the Nature & More page of growers Manolo and Alejandro, who grow their berries using rainwater.
Eosta, with Nature & More as its consumer brand and transparency system, is Europe’s leading distributor of organic fruit and vegetables. Eosta is known for its sustainability campaigns such as Living Wages, True Cost of Food and Dr. Goodfood. In 2018, the company won the King William I Plaque for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and in 2019 the European Business Award for the Environment. See also www.eosta.com and www.natureandmore.com.
