Sorma Group – a leading provider of packaging, packaging materials and packaging equipment for the fruit and vegetable sector – is to introduce 100-per-cent paper packs featuring a cellulose mesh window to enable the product inside to ‘breathe’, thus prolonging shelf-life and ensuring visibility. 

 

The new solution, which is completely recyclable, is already undergoing testing and will be available on the market by the end of the year. 

The designed models, which are suitable for packaging fruit and vegetables, boast an innovative and distinctive component compared to those currently available on the market: they are equipped with a window made of a cellulose mesh, which enables the product inside to ‘breathe’, prolonging shelf-life and ensuring excellent visibility.

Completing Sorma’s sustainable range

“With this new packaging line, we are enhancing and completing our range with a focus on environmental sustainability, and we are meeting the demands of consumers who are paying increasing attention to this issue,” explained Andrea Casali, Sales Director for Italy at Sorma Group. “Indeed, we have been constantly moving in this direction for several years: from the single-material recyclable plastic line, which we have gradually made 60-70-per-cent lighter, to the innovative Sormapeel line that we patented and launched on the market at the start of this year, which is revolutionary in terms of the way it integrates plastic and paper, offering a high-performance, robust and functional design – and finally, the packaging made of 100-per-cent compostable material introduced last autumn.”

Sorma Group’s paper packaging will be available in five models, including: ‘PaperPillow’, with or without a finger grip; ‘PaperStandup’, also with or without a handle; and PaperVertbag. Every version is made of 100% paper certified by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and features a cellulose viscose mesh ‘window’. This opening allows the product to breathe and enables consumers to check its quality.


The advantage of adaptability

Another key advantage is the new material’s adaptability to packaging machines: it will be possible to use the paper on the SBU model of Sorma packaging machines, which is already widely used, by applying a simple kit, therefore without the need to purchase special paper processing machines, resulting in significant cost savings.

 

“We have already started the first tests on our new packs, and the results have been extremely positive,” continued. Specifically, we have introduced the paper line on the French market, which is one of the most receptive and discerning with regard to recyclable paper solutions,” continued Mr Casali, adding that the firm has also conducted tests in Italy, including with the Bologna-based company Romagnoli F.lli S.p.A. – one of the main Italian companies operating in the processing and marketing of fruit and vegetables. “The aim is to ensure optimal service for all companies in the industry and retail chains that intend to invest in innovative, advantageous packaging, in all the Group’s target countries,” he said.

Founded in 1973, Sorma Group is currently the world's only corporate group able to offer a turnkey solution comprising the entire line of machines required to automatically grade, weigh and pack fruit and vegetable products, together with supply of the technical material for creating all forms of packaging. The Group has its own operations centres in Spain, Germany, France, Turkey, the Netherlands, the USA and Brazil. Alongside these subsidiaries, there are also 40 specialist distributors operating at the global level.