Growers question use of reusable plastic containers for fresh produce

Friday, December 5, 2014

Big chain stores, such as Loblaw, are encouraging growers to adopt reusable plastic bins instead of corrugated cardboard containers. But some producers have concerns about cleanliness, food safety and practicality

by SUSAN MANN

Reusable plastic bins for transporting fresh fruits and vegetables to market seemed like a good idea at the start, but Ontario growers soon found out the bins are difficult to juggle. They are also becoming concerned that the bins might pose a food safety hazard.

Nevertheless, a Canadian company that requires its suppliers to use them, Loblaw Companies Limited, is remaining tight-lipped about the growers' difficulties and how it plans to address them.

"Thank you for reaching out to us," an Oct. 3 email response from the grocery chain's public relations department replied to an interview request. "While we appreciate your interest in Loblaw Companies Limited, we have reviewed your request and are respectfully declining to participate."

Alison Robertson, program manager with the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, says the use of the plastic bins has "ebbed and flowed for the last 10 years," but for the past three years their use has been more prevalent in the United States and Canada.

"It's the big chain stores that are asking for them," she says, explaining growers have to use them if the buyer requests it. "It's not to the benefit of the grower." And growers fear speaking out about the problems because they can "alienate themselves from their customer," she says.

Robertson didn't have a number for how many Ontario growers use them or how many bins are in use in the province, but she noted they became more widespread after Loblaw piloted their use three years ago.

The plastic containers are cheaper than the disposable waxed corrugated cardboard boxes that are also commonly used in the industry, and growers initially thought they'd be saving money, she says. Retailers, however, also recognized the cost savings and began paying less for product.

One of the major problems growers have identified, she says, is lack of container cleanliness. The containers are sanitized in Memphis, Tenn., or Chicago. They're supposed to be cleaned after every use, Robertson says. Yet when they're delivered to growers, "they don't look very clean." Growers "are concerned for food safety," she says.

Growers are also concerned their farm might pick up plant diseases from other farms because different farms use the boxes, she notes.

Transporting plant pathogens from farm to farm is also the biggest concern for Prof. Keith Warriner of the University of Guelph's food science department. He completed a study, released Oct. 27, on the bins' cleanliness. It was commissioned by the Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association, which represents corrugated manufacturers.

Last year, Warriner also tested a total of 50 bins at five fresh-produce packing operations in Hamilton, Leamington and Montreal. This year's study was bigger with 160 containers tested over 10 weeks at a total of six farms in Ontario and Quebec. In both years, Warriner found the bins weren't adequately cleaned. Testing was done when the crates were delivered to the farms to rule out contamination at the packing facility receiving them.

Visible dirt and labels from previous users were found on about 30 per cent of the reusable plastic containers, he says, noting that, judging from the labels, the crates travel all over North and South America with one crate having a label from a Mexican farm.

As for the food safety risk, Warriner says there is a slight risk from unclean containers but the major risk is from plant pathogens and premature product spoilage.

Another problem with the bins has to do with the lack of easily readable source identification. The bins are black plastic and have a small four-inch by two-inch sticker with the farm name, showing where the product is from and the count or weight of the product that's inside.

The sticker is far more difficult to read than those on corrugated containers, Robertson says, adding that there are anecdotes of workers in distribution warehouses in both Canada and the United States who can't read the printed stickers or grab the wrong boxes when they're in a hurry.

Moreover, farmers' customers often scale back their order on very short notice – such as the day before delivery. Farmers then may end up having to repack the surplus amount in the corrugated containers to sell to another supplier. "That takes time and money," not to mention having to maintain and stock two separate packaging systems, she says.

However, Mike Gibson, one of the owners of Algoma Orchards Ltd. in Newcastle, says the bins do have some benefits. Algoma began using the bins after Loblaw, one of the company's customers, requested their use.

Currently, the 1,000-acre apple grower and packer only uses them for the crop it supplies to Loblaw. The company, owned by the Gibson and Kemp families, also markets its products in its farm market and ships to grocery stores, food service and wholesalers across Canada.

"We've actually had fewer headaches with these units than with cardboard," Gibson says.

The plastic containers are perforated "so you get really good air flow through them and they're extremely strong, so we stack them up higher (than cardboard boxes) if we're shipping them longer distances," Gibson notes.

Jane Proctor, Canadian Produce Marketing Association vice-president, policy and issue management, says the association established a task force two years ago "to address some of the concerns that people were starting to voice at that time."

The task force has been working on addressing these concerns, but its main job now is to create a set of best management practices for industry use. To do this, the association has been invited to join the efforts being launched by a U.S. organization that represents reusable plastics to develop a set of best management practices.

"That's good news for all of us because it means that together we will work with the produce industry," along with the retailers using the plastic bins in North America and the manufacturers, to create best management practices that meet the needs of everybody, she says. BF