Here is the third and final segment of this post and many thanks to my friend Anton Steeman at http://bestinpackaging.com/ for letting us push this out to all of you.

Clamshell For Fruit With Ripeness Indicator

Declining global consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables has been concerning health professionals and produce trade leaders for some time. Convenience and taste have been identified as key drivers to encourage increased consumption. The RipeSense label can be expected to change the way shoppers buy fruit by showing the exact level of ripeness without handling or guesswork. The clamshell pack, molded to the shape of the pears, was developed to trap the aroma necessary for the ripeSense label to function, while the key reason for developing ripeSense for pears is the difficulty shoppers have determining fruit ripeness. Pears, unlike apples, need to soften before they achieve their maximum flavor and shoppers often squeeze and damage the fruit as they make their selection. The clamshell protects the pears from crushing and bruising, permitting retailers to sell tender juicy ripe fruit without wastage. The ripeSense sensor label is world-first technology that enables shoppers to choose fruit that best appeals to their taste. It works by detecting aroma compounds given off the fruit as it ripens, changing the label through a range of colors. Shoppers can choose to either buy pears that are ready to eat immediately or they can purchase firmer fruit that will be ready for eating in a few days. Further research is proposed to develop sensor labels for summer fruit, kiwifruit, avocado and melons. The new label technology is the result of five years development by HortResearch scientists, funded largely by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. It belongs in the section of intelligent packaging that changes color to indicate the ripeness of fruit. Developed in New Zealand, ripeSense packaging technology is expected to bring significant efficiency to the fresh fruit industry, reducing wastage and forever eradicating the old selling process of selling loose, usually unripe, fruit into bins, where it is bruised, squeezed and prodded to determine its ripeness. To learn more, go to www.ctipack.com