Over the past month I have been fortunate to be able to attend 2 conferences, the Hort Connection conference in Brisbane and a Packaging Sustainability Conference in Auckland. Other than the obvious novelty of attending events in person after all the Covid restrictions, what struck me most was how big a part innovation is playing in shaping how we tackle being more sustainable and still continue to grow our businesses in these challenging times.
Whether it was re-usable pallet wrapping solutions that overall reduce costs at the same time as being more sustainable https://www.nicholdd.co.nz/product/greenspider-pallet-wraps-nz the temperature logistics solutions from Sealed Air to replace polystyrene https://sealedair.com.au/en-gb/node/264031 or the Synlait alternative milk bottle Swappabottle https://swappabottle.com/ these were just 3 examples of left field, creative and innovative products that can create a clear point of difference or a change in thinking on how you market and transport your products.
Having an open mind and embracing innovation and change is never more critical than it is today. Here at Jenkins, we have been successful this season with the introduction and installation of robotic apple packers into one of our Hawkes Bay customers packhouse. With the ongoing labour shortages, the installation and commission of these robotic packers reduced the number of people required to run the packhouse and provided constant repeatable packing of apples onto trays.
Innovation that provides a practical solution to an ongoing issue, if you want to find out more about this technology please reach out and we can provide more details.