Organic Growth
By ANDREW JOSEPH, FEATURES EDITOR
Automation Bercy FoodsA healthy mix of organic products and sustainable packaging keeps Montreal produce company in the green
For example, Bercy uses only vegetable-based inks for its produce labels; 100-percent recyclable and/or compostable corrugated trays; and the fully-recyclable RD45g Anti Fog flexible film from the Sealed Air Corporation, which is processed into plastic packaging on Shanklin Corporation’s model Omni S form/fill/seal and shrinkwrapping system.
“Our goal is to go ‘100-percent green’ by using a lot of creativity,” Orsini states, “while still keeping our value-added benefits as simple, safe and cost-efficient as possible for our retail customers.
“We have determined that nowadays the consumer has a greater awareness of packaging and its disposal … that not everything is actually recyclable and that there are issues with cross-contamination, but for all that the consumers are still demanding to have more convenient, pre-packaged products that are ready-to-serve.”
Maintaining this careful balancing act between environmental concerns and demands of its customers and consumers has gotten a little easier, according to Orsini, since the company began using the recently-developed NorShield waxless boxes manufactured by Canada’s leading corrugated packaging producer Norampac, a division of the Kingsey Falls, Que.-headquartered forest products group Cascades Canada Inc.
Containing no wax, nylon or plastic, the highly waterproof and humidity-resistant NorShield box made a big splash in the Canadian packaging industry circles last year for providing produce growers and shippers with a completely recyclable and 100-percent recycled fiber alternative for shipping and distributing their products—picking up the Green Innovation prize from the Quebec Association of Industrial Research and the Gold Award in the 2009 Sustainable Packaging Leadership Awards competition of the Toronto-headquartered PAC – The Packaging Association.
“It’s a perfect sustainable packaging solution for us,” explains Orsini. “Norampac has long been known a green company with deep commitment to sustainability, so it didn’t really surprise me when they came out with this wonderful new product.
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