Green Field Farms introduces sustainable alternatives to traditional packaging

Wooster, Ohio-based Green Field Farms says it has redesigned its boxes to reduce the use of wax used in the supply chain.

Green Field Farms, a farmer-owned cooperative that does custom packaging of produce for retailers, also offers compostable trays for overwrapped produce, according to a news release.

Moving away from wax cartons, Green Field Farms has entirely converted its one-third-bushel, half-bushel and 1 1/9-bushel boxes into dry boxes, the release said. That transition has made the boxes recyclable at retail.

When these changes were made, all the box sizes were changed to improve shipping efficiencies, the release said.

All the boxes are sized to stay within the edges of a pallet, according to the release. By adjusting the length by width by height ratios, additional product can be added to a pallet, thus reducing freight costs per box — and in some cases, it also allows for more pallets to be added to a truck, again reducing the cost of freight per box, the release said.