Organic pumpkin importer-marketer Bio Freshi has become the latest fresh produce company to make a commitment to laser labelling, having elected to work with technology specialist Laser Food to introduce the eco-friendly system to its products.
The Netherlands-based company, which also markets avocados and mangoes, among other products, is using laser labelling to replace paper labels.
Despite only having purchased Laser Food’s Laser Mark system a few short months’ ago, Bio Freshi is already actively using the technology to safely add organic and retail logos to a wide range of products, including organic pumpkins, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, coconuts, mangos and avocados. The laser labelled products are initially being sold through grocery retail clients in the Netherlands, but are expected to also be available in the near future in selected supermarket outlets in Germany and Denmark.
Bio Freshi’s Oliver Hensel explained that the company initially became interested in laser labelling following the widely-reported agreement between Laser Food and fellow Dutch importer-marketer Eosta.
“We organised a meeting at Fruit Logistica followed by a second meeting at Biofach, then went to Spain to look at the technology first-hand and speak to some of the existing clients,” recalls Hensel. “Speaking to our clients, we found that everybody was interested in the technology and wanted to make use of it.”
To date, Hensel says the system has achieved particularly good results with Bio Fresh’s signature product, pumpkins, leading the company to expand its usage across its broader portfolio.
Environmental focus
Laser Food’s Laser Mark system fits very well with the aims of organic-focused companies such as Bio Freshi when it comes to further improving their environmental credentials for the simple reason that the system eliminates the need for wasteful paper labels.
The system, which is approved for use in the EU, is also in itself eco-friendly, as it adds labels and logos by marking fruit surfaces using depigmentation through a process that does not harm the product in any way whatsoever.
Laser Food’s recent expansion into global markets, not just within the EU, has been made possible thanks to its worldwide marketing agreement with JBT Corporation, signed in November 2014. JBT, a food solutions specialist with a presence in 25 countries, now builds and promotes the Laser Mark system at a global level as part of the agreement, in the process making the technology more accessible to producers and exporters from South Africa to the Americas.
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