The Packer, Lenexa, Kansas, USA, reported this week that AllBoxes LLC, (Jericho, N.Y.) has developed a corrugated box with a separate chamber to inhibit ethylene from prematurely ripening fruit. The northeastern distributor of packaging materials specializing in the food industry and perishables is marketing the trademarked Peri-Packer fruit and vegetable shipper box.

The box includes a patented internal air chamber system that is designed to give consistent ethylene absorption and can help delay ripening up to three days, said David Goodrich, packaging products designer and owner of AllBoxes parent company, Goodrich Technologies in Newtown, Conn.

An industry issue, in-transit fruit waste is pegged at 15%. The boxes can be used in refrigerated trailer shipments as well as in overnight non-refrigerated shipments.

By 2018, distributing produce to shoppers via Federal Express and UPS through online ordering will constitute about 40% of grocery store business and the cartons are designed to preserve fruit in those kinds of shipments, according to trends Goodrich cited. "A lot of companies are trying to ship produce through UPS and FedEx," he said. "There’s quite a bit of fruit that gets damaged on a constant basis and this box is designed to reduce or eliminate the damage from ripening during the shipping process."

 

 

The carton works with all fruits and vegetables and helps absorb ethylene produced by the biggest emitters including apples, bananas, oranges, pineapples, as well as lettuce and tomatoes, Goodrich noted.

While many add ethylene absorbing bags, those bags can only hold so much ethylene before becoming saturated, he explained. But this system helps ensure better ethylene absorption occurs with the use of corrugated medium, and the carton includes six holes that aid in circulation, Goodrich said.

In mid-April, Goodrich’s cartons were being evaluated by an independent testing laboratory and in the summer, he plans to introduce an insulated pack that lines the box’s full surface area designed to keep produce refrigerated.