It’s a brand new year and we’ve got a brand new product line to talk about. Before we get into that, let me lay a little ground work if I may. We had a national sales meeting up here in sunny Glens Falls a couple weeks back. After a few of our fair weather sales people stopped complaining about the snow, we got down to business and had a couple productive days. I think the main theme I took away was summed up by a phrase that will reign true throughout this year and years to come. That phrase was, “this is not your mother’s Genpak“. We were challenged to think outside our comfort zone and not to fall back on that comfy security blanket we call the foam hinged container. The gauntlet was laid to sell a greater mix of our ever growing product offering and push the envelope into the markets that will benefit the most from our superior designs and substrates. By the end of the meetings our entire group was pumped up and ready to dive into 2010 with both feet and with a bag full of new products…which leads me to our January spotlight. Harvest Fiber!

Harvest Fiber is our next generation of eco-conscious food packaging products.  Before you ho hum yawn this one away as another Johnny-Come-Lately line of earth friendly products, remember who you are dealing with here! Genpak was first to market over three years ago with a full line of eco products. And, as a leader in the single use food packaging industry and one of the pioneers of “green” food packaging, we wanted to make sure these products could meet our motto of Quality To Go.

Now, what really sets our Fiber products apart from the field is our design. I’m not going to try to mislead you or gloss over facts here. Like everybody else who supplies products made from Bagasse, they are made in China. This mainly due to the lack of supply for that type of raw material here in the US. Please rest assured that we did not partner with the lowest bidder however. We visited, talked with and audited suppliers until we were 100% comfortable with our choice. One of the main reasons we went with who we did was we needed a company that would make products to our own design specifications. In other words we did not buy off the rack as everyone else has done. We took our time and had custom molds made to our spec so the products we did launch, looked and worked just like the Genpak products our customers are used to. If you’ve ever fumbled and cursed at that typical slot and tab type closure that is rampant in the fiber hinged market, you will absolutely love our hinged containers. Why? Because it is our Snap-It style design. Easy to close and stays closed.

Another feature on our Harvest Fiber hinged products that you’ll notice is the stacking rim. Yet another feature left off by our competition, but not over looked by us. Our thought here was, why skimp? This is what the foodservice market is used to so that’s what we are going to do. Other features include:

• GMO free material.
• Non-absorbent finish
• Microwave safe
• BPI certified compostable
• Annually renewable, non food source substrate

For you visual types, to see more pictures of our new Harvest Fiber foodservice products, just follow this link. If it is samples or more information you are after, just drop us a line and we’ll get right back to you.

Let us know what you think. Reply back (make it clean) and we’ll post your comments.

According to Kermit, it’s not easy being green.  This may have been true for that web toed amphibian, but for us at Genpak, it is a can of corn (pardon the pun).  Our Harvest Collection products are the industry benchmark for top quality, alternative material food service packaging.  Whether they are referred to as green packaging, eco-friendly packaging or one of the many other earthy monikers out there, one thing is certain: You will get the best quality product available on the market today.

All Harvest Collection products are made right here in the USA.  This fact must be made very clear.  We were recently challenged at a restaurant industry trade show by a skeptical customer.  They had done research and came to the conclusion that all “eco-friendly” food service packaging was imported from the far east.  It certainly is true that many products other “manufacturing” companies offer are imports that need to take that long, expensive, gas guzzling boat ride across the Pacific Ocean.  But rest assured, our Harvest Collection products are made at our Middletown, NY facility.  Our Carthage, TX facility makes our Harvest cups.  The raw material resin is also a domestic product.

Now that you know where these products are made, we can talk about what they are made of.  Basically, it is corn (now you get the can of corn pun earlier).  Specifically a polylactic acid (PLA) blend.  I won’t bore you with the details of PLA composition.  You can do an internet search which will provide a plethora of sites describing everything you ever wanted to know about it.  Sometimes however, we are asked if it is GMO free.  The answer is, there is no trace of GMO in our finished product.  Now that is not to say the corn was not a GMO product.  I think it’s safe to say that it was.  However, to put this whole GMO thing into perspective, the cotton shirt and skivvies you are wearing, the corn flakes you had for breakfast and the seedless watermelon and grapes you enjoyed for lunch are all GMO products.  Also, the corn used to produce PLA resins is not the kind of corn used to feed humans.  

Harvest Collection products look and feel like top-of-the-line traditional plastic products.  They are cut resistant, won’t absorb liquids or transfer any sort of weird sugary flavor into your food.  When the products are removed from their bags, they won’t splinter and fall apart or become brittle and chalky like other alternative material products. 

 

Harvest Hinged

Harvest Collection food service packaging may be used for a variety of applications ranging from cold to warm foods up to 140° F.  Wet and dry salads, sandwich & wraps, desserts, anything on a bun, well you get the idea.  The list is as endless as your culinary imagination.

Now, what do you do with these products once you or your customer has used them.  Well you have choices.  The ultimate choice would be to find a professionally managed composter (not your backyard compost heap) that accepts food grade materials.  If this is the case, the composter will turn our products into compost within 90 days.  Pretty cool when you think about it.  The raw materials came from the ground in the form of corn, and will be returned to the ground in the form of useful compost.

If you don’t have a composter nearby or your municipality has no organics diversion program in place, your only other choice is to properly dispose of the products into your normal trash.

So let’s recap then. 

• Made in the USA (NY & TX)
• Made from an annually renewable resource (corn)
• 100% compostable (BPI certified)
• Wide range of applications

What are you waiting for?  If you have or are considering alternative materials for your food packaging, give us a call.  We’d be glad to send you written information or free samples to test.