Chain manager Mark Versluis: 'We like to tell it like it is'
'There’s no Holy Grail when it comes to truly sustainable packaging solutions. This complicates matters for the practical implementation of sustainable packaging. Our packaging policy is therefore aimed at reducing the use of packaging materials on the one hand and ensuring that the materials used can be recycled as effectively as possible on the other,' explains Mark Versluis. 'We replaced all our Oriented Polystyrene (OPS) trays with recycled polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) trays. Why? Because not all recycling systems in Europe are able to process OPS effectively.
Nowadays, improving the sustainability of packaging goes much further than simply minimising the amount of packaging. It is also about the amount of water used in the cardboard production process and about reducing food waste.
When advising customers, we take into account all of the issues involved in making packaging more sustainable. We ask our customers how they approach this, or they come to us. Our advice is always based on facts: based on our own research, Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and information from the Netherlands Institute for Sustainable Packaging (KIDV). Most importantly, we need to ensure that our product stays fresh from the moment it leaves the grower’s door to the moment it reaches people’s homes. Our vision on packaging, which we like to share with our customers, really takes everything into account.'
Category vision for salads: fertile soil for growth
As the leading salad specialist, TNI is committed to joining forces with its partners to push boundaries on the salad shelf. That is why we are investing in a category vision – which includes shopper research – to gain insights into changes in our environment and shopper behaviour, among other things. Which trends have we identified among customers? Which social developments are currently at play?
We integrate all this information and these insights and then translate them into specific growth factors.
Research has shown that today’s shoppers like to be informed and inspired. The consumer is also becoming increasingly responsible and attaches great importance to sustainability. So, thinking and acting sustainably – one of our five growth factors – presents plenty of opportunities! How can we respond to this? Which initiatives can we develop that meet the consumer’s wishes? Answer: We can devise sustainable concepts and packaging that offer concrete solutions for a better environment. Our goal is to reduce the use of packaging materials. However, due to the shelf life of our products, (plastic) packaging is sometimes necessary. In such cases, we use materials that can be recycled as efficiently as possible. We are currently exploring initiatives that will help reduce the use of packaging materials. One of our ideas is to add a ‘financial pledge’ to the packaging: the packaging will then feature a symbol plus an explanation that part of the proceeds will go towards initiatives to reduce plastic waste. This will help us make the world a little cleaner, together!
Fairtrade shaker
New: now in handy to-go packaging
Snack tomatoes are a delicious and healthy snack, ideal for on the road, at work, or as fuel for your workout!
That’s why we are now packaging our 250 g red snack tomatoes in an attractively designed shaker made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) cardboard!
A first for Desert Joy in Tunisia: the very first glass greenhouse!
Desert Joy’s most delicious and juiciest Fairtrade tomatoes ripen under the Tunisian sun. And these tomatoes now grown in a glass greenhouse as well! This is one of the first glass greenhouses in North Africa. A glass greenhouse has a much longer service life (plastic greenhouses have to be renovated every three years) and it guarantees sustainable cultivation. External influences can be absorbed even better and can be used to create optimal growing conditions. Both cool and warm air can be used at the right time and the plants receive optimal light.
360-degree experience: It’s like you’re actually standing on the harvesting cart in the greenhouse!
'Wow! This is really impressive. As if I’m actually standing on a cart in Middenmeer, 2.5 metres in the air, harvesting ripe tomatoes'. This is just one of the enthusiastic reactions we received at TNI when we invite our associates to put on a pair of VR glasses and watch our 360 film. The Dutch horticultural sector is well-known for being innovative and sustainable. But you only really experience it when you're right in the middle of it, ‘flying’ over acres of greenhouse horticulture and seeing the cultivation process with your own eyes.
11th edition of Freshride raises € 35,000 for the Daniël den Hoed Foundation
The 11th edition of the Freshride – a Harvest House initiative – took place in September. In the early hours of the morning, 34 cyclists from the Fruit and Vegetables sector set off on a tour of more than 100 or 200 km. The proceeds (€ 35,000) will go towards further research into and the development of immunotherapy in the fight against cancer.
