Greenvale develops packaging for organic potatoes: new biodegradable MAP extends shelf-life, reduces wastage and cuts greening complaints by 50%
Greenvale’s new packaging for its Lady Balfour organic potatoes has increased shelf life, decreased wastage and reduced complaints about greening by over 50%.
Greenvale AP is the UK’s largest supplier of fresh potatoes and Lady Balfour is one of the UK’s top selling organic varieties, accounting for almost 10% of all organic potato sales in the UK.
In line with Greenvale’s commitment to the environment, the new MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) is biodegradable. "We originally changed over to a biodegradable film for packaging Lady Balfour some years ago," explains Charlotte Manwaring, key account manager at Greenvale’s Market Drayton site. "Although it was a successful switch, the one area of customer complaint was greening.
"We developed the new MAP packaging to overcome this greening issue."
Greening can be caused by exposure to too much light or if the potatoes have a high respiration rate. Modified Atmosphere Packaging can reduce the respiration rate by regulating the relative proportions of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the pack. Greenvale achieves this by manipulating the number and size of the perforations in the film.
Having developed the new MAP biodegradable film, Greenvale instigated shelf-life trials to see if it reduced the greening levels in the Lady Balfour potatoes. "The trials showed that not only were we significantly reducing greening in the potatoes, with customer complaints cut by over 50%, but that we could also actually increase the shelf-life of the product, potentially reducing waste," says Manwaring.
For more information visit the Greenvale AP website at www.greenvale.co.uk
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Editor’s notes
Greenvale AP is the UK’s leading supplier of fresh potatoes and was awarded the Queens Award for Innovation in 2006. Greenvale AP now supplies the UK’s premier retailers, caterers and processing outlets with quality potatoes, meeting the high standards demanded by the UK market.
Greenvale AP has developed sites in the major potato growing areas across the UK, resulting in three state of the art potato-packing operations situated in Shropshire, Berwickshire and Cambridgeshire. The company also has sales and marketing offices across the UK, including in Norfolk, Suffolk, Somerset, Hereford and Yorkshire. Greenvale AP’s Seed Potato operation is managed from a specialist office at Burrelton, near Perth in Scotland.