Containers in Common Use for Selected Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Exported to Western Europe

The proliferation of containers for fresh fruits and vegetables exported to Europe has resulted in an enormous number of container sizes with many variations in construction and accessory packaging materials. A survey made in major western European terminal markets showed that 301 different containers were used for the packaging of 30 selected fresh fruits and vegetables. Containers found in the survey were made of wood (43.5 percent), corrugated fiberboard (51.8 percent), solid fiberboard (1.3 percent), expanded plastic (0.7 percent), nonexpanded plastic (1.3 percent), jute (1.0 percent), and composites (0.3 percent). Of the wooden containers, 55.7 percent were constructed as trays, 38.2 percent as boxes, and 6.1 percent as crates. Boxes accounted for 91.3 percent of containers constructed from fiberboard and the remaining 8.7 percent were trays. One box and one tray were made of expanded plastic. The nonexpanded plastic and the jute containers were bags. The one composite container was a tray. Accessory packaging materials were used in 71.8 percent of the containers surveyed. The product was place packed in 80.4 percent of the containers, and the remaining 19.6 percent were jumble packed. Their net weight varied considerably within and among the commodities. External length and width dimensions for fresh fruit and vegetable containers are recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the purpose of international standardization. This study shows that 30.3 percent of the containers were within the OECD recommendations.