Organic food packaging is an important trend that is very quickly catching on in the grocery industry. For years, companies have used unsustainable plastic, foam, and other non-recyclable materials to packaging food products. This created a tremendous amount of waste for food that normally would not and should not produce hardly any. Organic food packaging is a complex burgeoning industry. Here, we hope to help you understand a bit more about it. Check it out!
What is Organic Food Packaging?
Organic food packaging is most frequently used with organic food products, but can also be found with non-organic foodstuffs. The packaging itself is usually biodegradable, BPA-free, and eco-friendly. Often times, this packaging is found in the form of cardboard boxes, glass jars, or biodegradable foam (like the kind you would see around fruit). Organic food packaging is also practical, transportable, and transparent in its material usage with consumers.
Who Uses Organic Food Packaging?
Multiple companies and organizations have jumped on board with the organic food packaging movement. Kashi, organic fruit providers, CLIF bars, and many other wheat companies have dedicated themselves to providing sustainable, organic, recyclable, and reusable packaging to their customers. Kashi uses a percentage of recycled cardboard in all of their boxes. CLIF Bars does the same by using a percentage of recycled materials to create their bar wrappers. Many organic fruit providers have switched to using biodegradable foam to protect the more delicate organic fruits. It is quite common these days to see companies (even if their products are not organic) using packaging that falls in line with organic food packaging guidelines.
What are the Benefits?
The benefits of organic food packaging are numerous, especially when one considers the positive long-term effects. One of the main benefits of this type of packaging is that the environment suffers less of an impact than when only plastic and non-recyclable and non-biodegradable materials are used. Another benefit is that organic food packaging draws consumer attention to how important resource conservation is. Many items that use organic packaging denote this somewhere on the box or product, informing consumers about the sustainable efforts of the company. Long term, organic food packaging sets up a healthier future for the environment and leaves plenty of room for science to continue to improve sustainable efforts.
Where can I find Organic Food Packaging?
Organic food packaging is surprisingly common. Many products use it without consumers even noticing. Next time you are at the grocery store, take an extra glance at your cereal, grain, and fruit products and look for a note about recycled or reused packaging. Stores such as Whole Foods, Aldi, and Wegmans make extra efforts to stock their shelves with organic food packaging, but most grocery chains will have at least a few items with the same environmental goals.
