The trend for environmental friendliness in the near future may affect the packaging sector of fruits and vegetables in Russia. This is convinced by Mikhail Afarinov, head of packaging equipment at Agrotrade.
- Our customers (mainly agricultural enterprises specializing in the cultivation of table potatoes and vegetables in Central Russia) today mainly prefer to pack their products in a grid (25 kg packaging). This is a familiar format, convenient for both potato growers and wholesalers-buyers. In addition, it does not require significant costs, which is important, given the situation in the industry.
But on the market, of course, there are those who follow European trends and are trying to introduce environmentally friendly packaging made of cardboard and other biodegradable materials. We have requests for appropriate equipment, although they are not of a massive nature. Eco-packaging adds about 6-7 rubles to the cost of a kilogram of potatoes, which under current conditions complicates the sale of goods.
In the future, I think the situation will change. Firstly, we hope that the purchasing power of the population will increase, which means that premium-class packaged products will be more in demand in stores.
And secondly, there is an obvious tendency to tighten environmental requirements around the world. In European stores, most of the products are now packaged in paper, cardboard, etc., despite the fact that plastic processing is well developed in the EU countries. Buyers consciously opt for less convenient and often more expensive packaging. I am sure that many Russians will adhere to the same position - first of all, the young generation living in cities with over one million people.
In addition, restrictions on the use of non-environmentally friendly packaging can be introduced at the legislative level.
Of course, this will not happen tomorrow, but still, changes are not far off.
At the same time, it can be noted that manufacturers of packaging equipment - such as Upmann, Skals, etc. - are already ready to supply consumers with machines and technological solutions for packaging agricultural products taking into account environmental requirements. There are proposals on the market for working with both disposable (paper bags, cardboard substrates, biodegradable film) and reusable (reversible plastic and wooden containers) packaging.
Examples of such solutions are in the videos: