CESENA – It is the dawn of a new era in the sustainable packaging sector: Sorma Group is introducing fruit and vegetable packaging that is 100% paper-based and therefore completely recyclable. The designed models, which are suitable for packaging fruit and vegetables, boast an innovative and distinctive component compared to those currently available on the market: they are equipped with a window made of a cellulose mesh, which enables the product inside to “breathe”, prolonging its shelf life and ensuring excellent visibility.
“With this new packaging line,” explains Andrea Casali, Sales Director for Italy at Sorma Group, “we are enhancing and completing our range with a focus on environmental sustainability and we are meeting the demands of consumers who are paying increasing attention to this issue. Indeed, we have been constantly moving in this direction for several years: from the single-material recyclable plastic line, which we have gradually made 60-70% lighter, to the innovative Sormapeel line that we patented and launched on the market at the start of this year, which is revolutionary in terms of the way it integrates plastic and paper, offering a high-performance, robust and functional design, and finally the packaging made of 100% compostable material introduced last autumn.”
Sorma Group’s paper packaging will be available in five models in particular: “PaperPillow”, with or without a finger grip, “PaperStandup”, also with or without a handle, and PaperVertbag. Every version is made of 100% paper certified by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and features a cellulose viscose mesh “window”: this opening allows the product to breathe and enables consumers to check its quality.
Another key advantage is the new material’s adaptability to packaging machines: it will be possible to use the paper on the SBU model of Sorma packaging machines, which is already widely used, by applying a simple kit, therefore without the need to purchase special paper processing machines, resulting in significant cost savings.
“We have already started the first tests on our new packs,” adds Casali, “and the results have been extremely positive. Specifically, we have introduced the paper line on the French market, which is one of the most receptive and discerning with regard to recyclable paper solutions, and conducted tests in Italy, including with the Bologna-based company Romagnoli F.lli S.p.A., one of the main Italian companies operating in the processing and marketing of fruit and vegetables, especially potatoes and onions, which has always been committed to sustainability issues. The aim is to ensure optimal service for all companies in the industry and retail chains that intend to invest in innovative, advantageous packaging, in all the Group’s target countries.”
Sorma Group was founded in 1973. It is currently the world’s only corporate group able to offer a turnkey solution comprising the entire line of machines required to automatically grade, weigh and pack fruit and vegetable products, together with supply of the technical material for creating all forms of packaging. It offers more than 160 automatic machine models, protected by 60 patents entirely developed by an in-house team of 35 engineers. More than 30 fruit and vegetable products can be graded and presented with the utmost precision and reliability, to effectively respond to the increasingly demanding needs of the Organized Trade. The Group has its own operations centres in Spain, Germany, France, Turkey, the Netherlands, the USA and Brazil. Alongside these subsidiaries, there are also 40 specialist distributors operating at the global level.
