I wouldn’t say the COVID-19 pandemic shifted consumer concerns about plastic entirely, but it does seem to have put it on the back burner…for now.
That doesn’t mean plastic is back in favor, however, and companies are doing their best to find ways to minimize the impact of plastic packaging in fresh produce.
We can’t go to a totally naked produce department, as some suggest, simply because the shelf life of fresh produce would take a nosedive. One of the most glaring examples of that, at least in North America, is the seedless cucumber.
I’ve talked with grower-shippers and retailers across the U.S. and Canada, and they all agree that a seedless cucumber can’t survive the supply chain with any sort of shelf life intact. There are efforts to completely “free the cucumber,” like Apeel Sciences’ pilot with Houweling’s.
Nature Fresh Farms BB #:274537 out of Leamington, ON, is taking another approach. The company launched a new home compostable wrap for seedless cucumbers in September, and was kind enough to send me some samples.
While I’m still working on the compost part of it, I decided test how they hold up in an average household. The compostable wrap is slightly different than what we’re used to seeing on seedless cucumbers.
Does it keep things fresh?
Watch and see.
