Sustainable packaging for fresh produce focuses on the functionality of fresh produce packaging. Packaging plays a critical role in enabling the sustainability of fresh produce supply chains – from ensuring food safety and minimizing food waste to mitigating packaging waste.

SPPA is comprised of fresh produce industry members committed to developing comprehensive resources and a guide for fresh produce growers and packers, retailers, and industry stakeholders as well as assessing current alternatives accessibility, sustainability, functionality, and affordability for fresh produce packaging.

Why Alignment?

Alignment on the gaps and opportunities for fresh produce packaging paves the way for a cohesive, industry-wide shift to more sustainable packaging. The current incongruent regulatory and diverging market requirements pose a significant risk to fresh produce supply chains in that viable fresh produce packaging alternatives do not consistently provide the technical functionality and accessibility needed for fresh produce to function as viable options for fresh produce providers.

The objective of SPPA is to align on scientifically sound, achievable, and sustainable fresh produce packaging guidelines for the fresh produce industry and its retail partners in North America. Key drivers for undertaking the work plan include:

Regulatory dissonance: Divergent national, state and provincial-level regulations regarding use of plastic packaging at point of sale for fresh produce, this includes also varying international export destination regulations and rules.

Rapidly evolving policy deployment: More state legislatures are considering new policies and regulations for allowable packaging content and disposal. The ramp up to identify, improve, and deploy new packaging materials for fresh produce is a long cycle, understanding the landscape and providing market-ready alternatives is critical.

Growing buyer expectations and objectives: Buyers are committing to increasingly wide reaching sustainability goals.

Western Growers, the Canadian Fresh Produce Marketing Association, and key fresh produce organizations are committed to addressing the barriers and opportunities to further the development and adoption of sustainable packaging for fresh produce. Together, this group of industry stakeholders is leveraging technical expertise, existing sustainability guidance, and opportunities for sustainable innovation to complete this project.