A sustainable packaging solution created by packaging innovator StePacPPC is working at full-pallet level to protect fresh produce from farm to retail.
The company’s advanced pallet shrouds ensure fresh berries and other produce items reach their destination in peak freshness while helping to minimise plastic use.
Xtend Pallet Shrouds were specifically developed to accommodate scenarios for which the company’s traditional Xtend bulk carton liners are impractical.
These advanced protective covers preserve the quality of select fresh produce items stacked on a pallet for shipment at temperatures near 0 °C.
Delicate berries that present low-respiration rates, including blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries, especially benefit from StePacPPC’s shrouds and are an example of produce items for which conventional Xtend products, despite offering superior performance, are sometimes impractical.
In North America, berries are typically field-packed. As berries need to be at least partially cooled before being packed in Xtend bulk bags, this creates a logistical challenge that complicates their use for field-packed produce.
The pallet shroud is uniquely designed to keep produce fresh up to the final destination, where it is simply removed upon arrival. The covers are inbuilt with advanced modified atmosphere (MA) and modified humidity (MH) technology, which enables atmosphere and moisture control.
They create the optimal environment to retain freshness and quality during storage and transit, often requiring lengthy periods. A further benefit is that the amount of plastic-per-unit weight of produce is kept to an absolute minimum.
“We can tailor the pallet shrouds to meet the unique preservation needs of a variety of fruits and vegetables,” asserts Gary Ward, CTO, StePacPPC.
“For produce items that do not benefit from modified atmosphere, we provide a variant that relies solely on modified humidity to reduce weight loss.”
Xtend Pallet Shrouds are constructed from advanced polyamide-based film with moderate to high water vapour transmission rates (WVTR).
They address a key challenge in pallet-level packaging: moisture accumulation.
A pallet shroud’s small surface area to volume ratio makes it prone to trapping excess moisture, especially under fluctuating or poorly managed temperature conditions.
This increases the risk of microbial decay and carton collapse. Xtend Pallet Shrouds effectively alleviate these risks through superior moisture control.
“Our pallet shrouds are proving to be instrumental in optimising inventory management and ensuring a consistent market supply of high-quality berries for a prolonged period."
"Not only do they improve the experience of the customers who receive punnets of berries at close-to-harvest freshness, they help reduce waste and plastic use,” concludes Ward.