Zespri has confirmed that all of its kiwifruit in Europe for the upcoming Northern Hemisphere supply season will feature compostable labels, including trialling a home compostable label in France.
Giorgio Comino, Zespri Executive Officer - Europe and North America, says the move reflects Zespri’s commitment to embracing more sustainable practices across the global supply chain.
“Exploring more sustainable fruit label options has been an area of considerable focus for Zespri over a number of years, with our labels providing an important assurance to our customers that the fruit they are purchasing is authentic, safe and high-quality Zespri Kiwifruit.
Approved for domestic compost and industrial compost respectively, none of the labels’ components – including adhesive and inks – has any harmful impact on the environment and naturally, they meet all EU food safety regulations.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that all of our packaging is 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025, we’ve been exploring compostable labels that can withstand the humidity and refrigeration necessary to preserve fruit quality within our global supply chain.
“We know consumers want to see us make progress towards more environmentally friendly labels and we’re really pleased to be able to have a home compostable fruit label on our European-grown fruit in France this season, and industrial compostable ones for the balance of European markets.
Mr Comino says the introduction of the home compostable labels in France and industrial compostable ones is the other European markets is an extension of a trial Zespri undertook earlier in 2022.
“This not only allows us to meet our regulatory requirements, but it provides us with a great opportunity to monitor how this label performs throughout our supply chain and to gather feedback from our customers and consumers.”
Mr Comino confirmed that while Zespri would continue to meet all regulatory requirements, the compostable labels being trialled for the European-grown fruit may not be able to be introduced on all New-Zealand grown fruit in next year’s 2023 season due to limited stock availability.
For more information:
Amber Trower
Zespri
Tel: +64 27 343 5644
Email: amber.trower@zespri.com
www.zespri.com