VALENCIA, SPAIN — Laser Food, the pioneer of safe, efficient laser labelling technology for fresh fruits and vegetables, has announced the launch of a new promotional campaign to raise awareness of the differences between the system marketed under Laser Food’s own ‘Natural Branding’ name and inferior laser-burning systems which often damage the products.
Under the slogan ’Natural Branding vs Burnt Skin,’ Valencia, Spain-based Laser Food will highlight the threat posed by the inefficient laser marking of fresh produce, not just to the quality and integrity of products, but also to the reputation of the award-winning Natural Branding system.
Laser Food founder and managing director, Jaime Sanfelix, said: “With the launch of the ‘Natural Branding vs Burnt Skin’ campaign, we are aiming to illustrate the differences between burning fruit skin using a laser and the negative consequences this has for the good name for the technology and for ‘Natural Branding,’ which has been the definitive technique and for laser labelling since its introduction in 2006.”
Key differences
With over 12 years’ experience of monitoring and controlling conditions for laser labelling as well an EU patent for its use, Laser Food is a pioneer and leader in the safe, damage-free marking of fruits and vegetables. Unlike laser-burning techniques which compromise product quality and shelf life, Laser Food’s patented Laser Mark system works by removing a minuscule area of fruit skin – without harming the fruit or vegetable in any way – before applying an EU-approved contrasting liquid.
Laser Food took a major step forward in October 2018 with the Europe-wide launch of a new name for the technology, Natural Branding, which has been developed to emphasise the environmental benefits of a technique that allows customers to eliminate wasteful paper labels. Unlike the Laser Mark system, the inferior, non-patented laser-burning technique has a number of major drawbacks for producers, retailers and consumers.
Open for use, regardless of experience with the technology, the technique involves burning a brand name or information onto the skin of a fruit or vegetable. The resulting burnt skin not only harms of the image of laser labelling as a technology, but also leads to damaged products and rejections at the point of sale.
Jaime Sanfelix added: “We are seeing the intrusion of companies without any experience or qualifications in the fresh produce sector. The danger is that this leads to a bad image for a technology that can deliver numerous environmental benefits, including a reduction in CO2, and the use of paper and plastic packaging.
“We took the decision to register ‘Natural Branding’ as a brand name to highlight Laser Food as an originator and leader in this technology, and to differentiate our safe system from irresponsible laser branding.”
Technology pioneers
As a company Laser Food works with a range of fresh produce specialists across Europe, supplying laser-labelling systems to major companies including Germany marketer of organic agricultural products Lehmann Natur, Netherlands-based Eosta (Nature & More), organic pumpkin producer Bio Freshi and organic kiwifruit specialist Agricolli Bio, as well as citrus marketers in Spain.
Between 2010-13, Laser Food led the EU-supported Laser Mark project, which demonstrated that the product and process were commercially ready and suitable for customers’ needs. Laser Mark received the prize for Best European Environmental Project in 2013 at awards recognising successful Europe-level initiatives organised by Spain’s Valencia region. More information on the development of the project is available here: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/eco-innovation/projects/en/partners/laser-food
A video detailing the evolution of Laser Food’s Natural Branding technology compared with the burnt skin delivered by other techniques can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/7tMQg15cgDw
Laser Food & JBT
Laser Food’s global expansion has been made possible thanks to its worldwide marketing agreement with JBT Corporation, a food solutions specialist with a presence in 25 countries, which builds and promotes Laser Food’s Laser Mark technology worldwide. JBT also promotes Laser Food via jbtc.com and the @JBTLaserFood social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.
Laser Food will be exhibiting with JBT at Fruit Logistica 2019 in Hall 3.1, Stand D-03 in Berlin, Germany from February 6-8, 2019
