Spanish retailer Caprabo has announced the introduction of 100% recyclable and compostable packaging in its supermarkets for tomatoes.
The compostable packaging will be made of paper, and paper and bamboo mesh, the retailer noted.
The initiative is expected to reduce the company's annual plastic use by three tonnes, accounting for the sales of about 250,000 kilograms of tomatoes a year.
“Caprabo hopes to advance initiatives that contribute to minimising the impact of plastics on the environment. And we, as a supermarket, can do so with micro-actions that allow us to take extreme care of the environment," said Fernando Tercero, head of proximity products at Caprabo.
"From our point of view, the initiative, which comes from one of our local suppliers, is important because it shows the extraordinary work of small producers to adapt to concerns related to caring for the environment," he added.
Read More: The Great Tomato Shortage – One Month On: Analysis
Proximity Programme
Caprabo has a proximity programme for regions through which it has introduced more than 2,800 products from some 300 small producers and agricultural cooperatives.
The company added that it works with each Catalan region in a specific way, according to the wealth of its agri-food production.
The programme includes several initiatives to support local production, among which are promotional campaigns in supermarkets, as well as annual strategies to promote the consumption of local products.
The retailer also communicates its local initiatives to more than one million of its customers with loyalty card, and organises Caprabo Local Products Fairs in the Catalan regions as well as other gastronomic events with seasonal local products.
The programme is supported by Spain's Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, the Catalan Federation of PDO-IGP and the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Catalonia (FCAC).
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest packaging news. Article by Robert McHugh. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
