KAPIRIS BROS: Designing Sustainable, Award-Winning Tomato Punnets

biocane packaging for tomatoes developed by BioPak and Kapiris Bros

As the world is grappling with a recycling crisis and climate emergency, the spotlight is on leading Australian brands, like Woolworths, to reduce the waste associated with doing business. 

Prompted by single-use plastic ban legislations which are coming into effect across Australia over the next few years, Woolworths is working with its suppliers to phase out the hardest to recycle materials from their packaging by 2025 (source). 

Kapiris Bros, BioPak and Woolworths collaborated to develop sustainable award-winning packaging for tomatoes which is now the standard style for all Woolworths tomato growers.

Our Partner

Kapiris Bros is a national Australian tomato growing company. Dedicated to sustainability, Kapiris Bros is moving towards its target of eliminating plastic use to less than 20% by 2025 and eliminate all plastics within its product range offered throughout all supply channels by 2030 (source). This sustainability effort stems from Kapiris Bros strong position on preserving and protecting the natural environment. 

At Kapiris Bros, these efforts towards sustainable practices extend to the conversion of all lighting to eco-friendly efficient LEDs, the separation and categorisation of all waste including the recycling of all cardboard waste as well as organic waste being provided free of charge to local farmers for livestock feed. 

Kapiris Bros who supply tomatoes to Woolworths needed to develop a solution to the plastic problem whereby they were packaging their tomatoes in single-use plastic punnets.

The Problem

While on-premise waste management practices limit waste-to-landfill from the supermarkets, the environmental impact of packaging that ends up in consumers’ homes must also be considered and managed. 

The sustainability experts at BioPak were approached by sustainability partners, Woolworths and Kapiris Bros to develop a more sustainable packaging product for their 480g and 1kg produce trays, previously made out of plastic.

The new design needed to have the equivalent functional performance of the plastic containers previously used, protect the product, withstand the rigours of the cold chain, be easily integrated into the existing packaging process and be visually differentiated from its competition. BioPak in-house expert industrial and graphic designers worked on the technical and aesthetic aspects from start to finish. Several prototypes were created throughout the development process, collaborating closely with Kapiris Bros, Woolworths and end-users to ensure there were no adverse functional or operational performance impacts and many tweaks were made to improve the product functionality along the way.

The Solution

“Experimentation and innovation are the driving forces behind BioPak’s mission to create sustainable, environmentally-friendly packaging, but the success of this goal is a collaborative effort”, says BioPak chief executive, Gary Smith.

Working closely with BioPak and Woolworths, Kapiris Bros created a new tomato punnet design made from bagasse (plant residue from sugar cane) and wheat straw. Unlike plastic or polystyrene products, bagasse is recyclable, home (AS5810) and industrially (AS4736) compostable to Australian Standards. Under composting conditions, bagasse will break down into a nutrient-rich compost that can be used as a fertiliser and soil conditioner, which in return sequesters more carbon from the atmosphere, effectively reversing climate change. Consumers are able to dispose of the packaging in either their paper recycling or home compost bin.

This project has formed a valued cross-functional relationship between BioPak, Kapiris Bros and Woolworths, driving shared values to work towards Woolworths’ 2025 Sustainability Plan. Through this new tomato punnet design, Kapiris Bros have replaced plastic trays with pulp trays which helps towards Woolworths’ transition to recyclable, compostable or reusable packaging by 2023.

The packaging has been recognised with an Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design Award (PIDA) from the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP).

The Result

This sustainability initiative will result in the elimination of 31.5 tonnes of plastic packaging from the environment over a 12 month period.

The new award-winning tomato punnet design has boosted the sustainable credentials of Kapiris Bros and visually differentiated the brand from its competition. Its produce is now a more attractive proposition to both the consumer and retailer – it helps Woolworths’ transition to recyclable, compostable or reusable packaging by 2023.

The Difference

Switching from plastic to pulp trays has avoided the use of 31.5 tonnes of plastic every year. This relatively simple swap in material shows how businesses can easily reduce their impact on the environment.

Switching from single-use plastic packaging derived from finite fossil resources to sugarcane packaging makes a big difference. For every 10 million tomato punnets made from sugarcane over conventional plastic packaging, 280,000 kgs of fossil-fuel plastics will be avoided, and 744,155 kgs of carbon emissions offset. And as it’s a natural material, it will not persist in the environment if left.

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