Sainsbury’s has become the first retailer to use Amcor’s NaturePlus Materbi heat-seal film for the vertical form, fill and seal (VFFS) packaging of fresh produce.
The first pack to hit the shelves is the 750g bag of Sainsury’s SO Organic baby salad potatoes.
Previous grades of Materbi have required impulse seals and so have not been suitable for the majority of VFFS vegetable packing lines currently used by UK retail packers.
But Amcor claimed this latest version is the first heat-sealable and fully compostable film that can be used with a vertical filling machine.
SO Organic potato range: uses NaturePlus Materbi
The new product launch is part of Sainsbury’s switch to the large-scale use of biodegradable packaging, which it first announced last September.
The 40-micron co-extruded material was produced at Amcor’s extrusion site in Ilkeston and then printed at its fresh produce packaging centre in Ledbury.
Reference: www.packagingnews.co.uk
