A fresh take on strawberry punnets launched at Hort Connections

Perfection Fresh has partnered with global packaging business Detpak to develop a new strawberry punnet that combines shelf appeal with functional design.

Each 240 g punnet features ventilation holes to maximise freshness, showcasing the strawberries in a format that’s both practical and visually striking.

The packaging features three large viewing windows that let shoppers inspect the fruit from the top and bottom.

On the functional side, the punnets are designed to reduce plastic by 87% while also featuring a unique locking mechanism to keep fruit secure.

Designed by Detpak’s Research & Development team at its LaunchPad facility, the punnets are primarily made from sturdy, recyclable board, and enable easier hand-packing, storage and transportation.

Luke Gibson, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Perfection Fresh, said the design was led by consumer behaviour and a clear ambition to ‘hero’ the fruit itself.

“With our new Signature Premium Strawberry Punnets, we can highlight the premium quality of produce inside the packaging, while creating a new standard of messaging through graphics and design that simply cannot be achieved with plastic containers,” Gibson said.

Perfection Fresh is one of Australia’s leading suppliers of fresh produce to the retail sector and has worked with Detpak and its LaunchPad team on other packaging, such as its grape bag that has helped reduce unnecessary plastics.

Detpak Business Manager Christian Bell said the new strawberry packaging will help with the transition from plastics to fibre-based packaging in Australia’s fresh produce industry.

“As our LaunchPad capabilities grow, we’ve also been able to create and further develop fibre-based solutions which outperform the plastic alternative when it comes to shelf life performance,” Bell said.

“Keeping that in mind, we worked with Perfection Fresh to highlight what was really important — their fresh strawberries — and we know consumers instinctively check the bottom of the punnet to see how the fruit looks. So we designed a punnet that shows off the fruit from every angle. It’s an elegant solution that looks great, packs efficiently and supports the quality of the strawberries from packhouse to shelf.”

Available in Coles from July, the strawberry punnets were launched at Hort Connections on 4 June. The first in-store trials will be starting soon.