Under the name Nature & More, Dutch produce distributor Eosta has introduced a technique of laser branding on the skin of organic fruit and veg which eliminates the need for stickers and packaging.
Eosta refers to the technique as natural branding. The company explains this as ‘marking fruit and vegetables using laser light; a process which requires the removal of a minor amount of pigment from the outer layer of the skin or peel’. In doing so, it also removes the requirement for plastic packaging or stickers identifying the produce as organic to consumers.
Since Eosta first applied laser technology in this way in late 2016 the distributor has saved 500,000kg of plastic and 216,000 sq m of paper. It has also saved 2.2 million kg of CO2 emissions, since the process requires ‘a mere fraction of the energy required for a sticker’.
The Nature & More trials began in Sweden where supermarket ICA rolled out avocados and sweet potatoes marked by natural branding. The technique is also commonly applied to ginger, mangoes, cucumbers and kiwis, with research underway to determine methods of branding organic citrus fruits.
The ‘moving spirit’ behind the technology is Paul Hendriks, Eosta packaging manager, in partnership with packaging expert Gerben Borsje. Hendriks explains his philosophy: “The most sustainable packaging is the absence of packaging, and for organic products this is achieved using natural branding.
“Studies show that consumers are very happy about this, because they naturally prefer buying their organic products free from plastic packaging.”
