Corrugated cardboard packaging and European standards

For a long time, carton enterprises have been accustomed to the thinking and working methods of “live and live, live and work”. The long-term closed-end business methods and self-paralysis have caused habitual shortsightedness, focusing only on immediate profit, and cannot be seen later. As for the development prospects, it is even more difficult to see the numerous crises that lie in our side. Carton box is a traditional industry. Only by introducing the advantages of other products in the packaging industry, can we provide value-added services for customers, but also allow companies to gain value and development. Think of customers, solve problems for customers; think customers think, give advice to customers. In fact, carton factory service is reflected in two aspects, one is technology, and the other is business strategy. Technology can be improved through improvement, and business strategies cannot be purchased. It requires operators' keen market insight and analysis capabilities.
With the rapid growth of the national economy and the continuous improvement of living standards, people have higher requirements for the primitive packaging of fruits and vegetables. At present, on the shelves of many supermarkets in China, the unreasonable packaging of agricultural products is becoming increasingly prominent. The storage and transportation functions and sales functions of packaging cannot coexist? This is an opportunity and a crisis for our carton companies. Carton packaging, if it can seize the opportunity to provide customers with packaging solutions with strong sales, storage and transportation performance, is like injecting a booster into the carton enterprise that was originally a meager profit, and injects new vitality into the business. New profit point.
Europe has launched the "European Standard for Covering Corrugated Containers." This standard specifies the size of the packaging area for fruits and vegetables, and combines the advantages of RPC (recyclable plastic baskets) to strengthen the sales function of corrugated boxes. This practice has also brought new inspiration to our domestic carton enterprises. The next question is whether our carton companies can seize this opportunity to discover the demand points of the market and bring more returns. The newspaper specially compiled two articles for this purpose for readers, for reference by readers.
Over the years, corrugated cardboard packaging for the fresh food industry has been growing at a rate of 2-3% per year. Corrugated cardboard packaging accounts for 63% of the entire fresh food packaging market compared to other material packaging (27%).
The European Federation of corrugated board manufacturers and the French corrugated board packaging association have conducted a comprehensive survey of the fresh food and fruit and vegetable packaging markets. The main products involved in the survey were: fruits, vegetables, fresh meat, poultry, fresh fish and dairy products. The countries surveyed are mainly Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The survey results show that since the emergence of recycled plastic containers in the market, some changes have taken place in the market share. Recyclable plastic boxes reached 31% of the European fresh product packaging market. However, corrugated cardboard packaging still holds the top position with a share of 48.2%.
Recyclable plastic containers are costly and complex to manage, and are only suitable for close-closed production and distribution systems. There are also health issues with certain products. Corrugated cardboard packaging has obvious advantages in terms of cost, shipping, and product promotion (which can be personalized printed). The survey results show that in the coming years, corrugated paperboard packaging will continue to lead the fresh product packaging market at a rate of more than 48%.
In order to better display the advantages of corrugated cardboard packaging, to better adapt to the actual conditions of the European countries’ vegetable and fruit circulation markets, and to facilitate the transfer of fresh products between European countries and the combined goods, the European Union of corrugated board manufacturers is among the relevant companies. With assistance, the standard size of a corrugated packaging tray for fresh products such as vegetables and fruits - STANDARD FEFCOCF1 & CF2 ("COMMON FOOT PRINT") was introduced. The main purpose of the standardized size of corrugated cardboard trays is to unify the external dimensions of the trays and optimize the stacking of the paper trays on the wooden trays.
According to the standard wooden pallet sizes used in Europe (1200mm×1000mm and 1200mm×800mm), the external dimensions of the corrugated paperboard trays for fruits and vegetables are classified into two categories: the size of CF1 is 597mm×398mm, and the size of CF2 is 398mm×298mm . The height of the tray is not limited and can be adjusted according to the volume of the product being packaged. The dimensions of CF1 and CF2 are determined by precise calculations to ensure that they do not stack out of the four sides of the wooden pallet when stacked on wooden pallets. The use of standardized corrugated paperboard trays enables the fruit and vegetable collection and distribution center to distribute products from various European countries at will. It is no longer necessary to repack or use wooden pallets.
This specification has begun to develop into the United States. The FIBRE BOARD ASSOCIATION has taken steps to make US standards compatible with the European Federation of Corrugated Cardboard Manufacturers Association standards to facilitate the trade of fresh products between the United States and EU countries.
Therefore, our country should be in line with European standards in the export packaging of fresh products. This will be very beneficial to improving the quality of Chinese exports and improving the image of Chinese exports.