Dive Brief:
- Six food companies — B&G, Alpine Fresh, Landec Corp.’s Apio unit, McCall Farms’ Glory Foods, Mann Packing Co. and Taylor Farms California — are being sued for using patented breathable packaging for fresh produce without paying for it, reports Bloomberg.
- Windham Packaging filed the lawsuit, claiming the companies are unlawfully using microperforated packaging that it developed and patented in 2006. The specially designed bags control the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the container to optimize product freshness and extend shelf life.
- The suit affects only some specific products, such as B&G’s Green Giant Fresh broccoli and cauliflower from Canada, Mexico and Peru, and Apio's Eat Smart and Greenline beans from Guatemala. B&G says it has been named in error because it doesn't make or sell the Green Giant Fresh products named in the lawsuit, but works with a third-party fresh produce company under a licensing agreement.
Dive Insight:
Packaging technology and solutions that differentiate products and help extend shelf life can be an advantage in the intensely competitive food space. This case is of particular interest because it involves a distinct type of packaging that enables produce to stay fresh longer, an especially pertinent issue since consumers are eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. Produce also represents a large import/export business that continues to grow.
At $62.5 billion, produce now makes up a third of all fresh grocery store sales, second only to the meat department. The average American consumed 3.5 more pounds of fresh fruit in 2016 than the year before, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Millennials eat more fresh fruits and vegetables than any other demographic, at 2.7 servings per day, according to The Oppenheimer Group.
The USDA reports that agricultural exports were worth $133 billion in 2015. Bloomberg cites USDA reports that the share of vegetables imported into the U.S. has grown from 9% in 1996 to 23% in 2016. Mexico alone is responsible for about 70% of vegetables and 31% of fruits imported into the U.S. last year, according to the USDA. With products traveling these kinds of distances, it is little wonder companies are looking for ways to keep them fresh longer.
Lawsuits about packaging are nothing new in the food manufacturing world. Last month, Post Consumer Brands filed a lawsuit against General Mills for patent infringement for both its new bagged cereals and the way the cereal giant is displaying the product on grocery shelves. Manufacturers are familiar with food labeling litigation, food recall issues and slack-fill suits that challenge the extra space in food packaging.
Courts have been known to throw out some of the most questionable cases, but it will be interesting to see how this recent packaging litigation unfolds. Innovative product packaging increasingly plays a critical role in food safety and shelf-life extension. When manufacturers add this kind of value in the form of packaging, consumers often see the final product as “premium,” which, if well executed, can command a higher price and boost a brand’s performance.