Costa trials recyclable paper bag for mandarins

Costa Group has trialled new fully recyclable paper bag packaging for its premium mandarins, taking inspiration from the success of its paper packaging for table grapes. Gilad Sadan, creative director of Navi Co Global, partnered with Costa in the development of a range of sustainable packaging solutions and was instrumental in the design of the bunch bag for the Autumncrisp grapes. 

He has also previously worked with the grape team on the development of a fully recyclable at kerbside grape punnet. 

Sadan said the latest trial for mandarins was an evolution of the grape packaging and was the result of an idea from Craig Greenhalgh, national sales and operations manager for Costa’s citrus category. 

“There’s really interesting cross pollination between the categories and we are using the learnings and applying them to different produce lines,” Greenhalgh said. 

“For the mandarins we had to find ways to seal the bag, which needed to be a set weight. From a consumer point of view there’s convenience of having the mandarins in a bag, but with no environmental impact. 

“Keeping very close to global and local consumer trends we use new product launches to tune into what consumers are looking for and what’s important to them. We received written feedback from consumers congratulating us on our packaging sustainability journey.” 

While still in trial stages, Sadan said the new packaging had also opened up new conversations with retailers, and there was potential for use with other produce such as avocados.