For every kilogram of blueberries sold in Australian supermarkets there are around eight plastic punnets.
With the average Australian eating about 700 grams of the fruit each year the plastic starts to pile up.
Blueberry farmers in southern Western Australia have switched to compostable cardboard punnets for their blueberries in an effort to reduce the product’s plastic waste.
Looking abroad for inspiration
After living in England for six years Jonathon and Sophie Macri noticed avoiding plastic when buying fresh produce was not as easy in Australia.
Disappointed with the lack of plastic-free alternatives for consumers the couple got in touch with a packaging company in Queensland that came up with a compostable, recyclable design.
Jonathon and Sophie Macri with their daughter Harriet at their organic blueberry farm near Denmark. (ABC Great Southern: Georgia Hargreaves)
“We’ve seen the options just everywhere on the shelves [in the UK and Europe] and then, coming back to Australia, we realised the options were not there,” Mr Macri said.
“So as part of our own personal journey we wanted to have our own reduction of single use plastic.
“We thought it would be great to introduce it here and hopefully it catches on and more people get on board with it.”
Compostable and plastic-free
Berries Australia figures showed 43 per cent of Australian households purchased blueberries, buying an average of 183g per shop in the 2023/’24 financial year.
The most recent report from environmental group Boomerang Alliance found consumers in Australia did not have sufficient options to avoid plastic packaging.
Plastic punnets are often imported from overseas and are a cheaper packaging option. (ABC Great Southern: Georgia Hargreaves)
The report, released in November 2024, also found supermarkets were still placing too much emphasis on the recycling of packaging, not removal of plastic.
These punnets are made entirely from cardboard and cost just a few cents more than a standard plastic punnet to purchase wholesale — depending on the quantity purchased and freight costs.
Sophie Macri said she was happy to absorb the additional cost rather than pass it on to the consumer because it was something the couple felt strongly about.
The Macri family supplies boxed blueberries to local grocers in Albany, Denmark, and small organic shops in Perth. (ABC Great Southern: Georgia Hargreaves)
“It is really just a matter of a few cents [more] actually,” she said.
“It’s not a huge difference but then obviously when you add that up over thousands and thousands of punnets, it does make a difference.
“It’s more of an ethical thing for us. We just really, really didn’t want to put anymore single use plastic out in the system.”
Changing buyer behaviour
This is the second season the Macri family has been selling their blueberries in cardboard punnets and so far the feedback from consumers has been positive.
Sophie Macri said she hoped more growers and wholesalers would get on board and move away from plastic punnets.
“We genuinely have only had good feedback and [we’re hearing] this is actually what people want and they want to have the choice not to buy plastic,” she said.
“The more people do it the more people will expect to find their berries in cardboard.”
The Macri family’s farm is organic. (ABC Great Southern: Georgia Hargreaves)
The Macri family are small-scale organic producers on the south coast of WA and their berries are packed by hand, which means there can be flexibility around their packaging design and material.
A larger scale
Most of the blueberries grown in Australia come from New South Wales with more than 17,000 tonnes grown annually.
Large operations like Mountain Blue, based in the Northern Rivers, often require machines to pack their fruit.
Mountain Blue brand and communications manager Melissa Gow said one of the biggest challenges with using a new type of packaging material was making it suitable for existing automated packing lines.
The punnet design they trialled late last year in some supermarket stores was fully recyclable but not biodegradable or compostable.
Last year Mountain Blue trialled recyclable cardboard punnets across 37 Coles stores in northern NSW. (Supplied: Mountain Blue)
Ms Gow said the trial was a success and received positive feedback from consumers.
“We are looking into doing another east coast trial,” she said.
“Our end goal is for recyclability and biodegradability, which is further than what retailers are currently asking for.”
On its website, Coles said it was supporting industry to achieve “100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging”, but did not detail how or what benchmarks it had set.
Meanwhile, Woolworths identified its customers’ concern over plastic packaging and waste.
“We are focused on eliminating plastic wherever possible and working towards closing the loop by encouraging recycling through design, technology and clear communication to our customers and supplies,” its website read.
