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Vicente Peris has changed the tub for its Frutifresh pineapple cylinder, one of the products in its fresh-cut (IV gama) division. The new pack weighs 23.1 grams against 28.7 grams for the previous one, around 19.5% less plastic per unit. The company has reduced both parts: the body goes from 22.9 to 18.3 grams (20.1% less) and the lid from 5.8 to 4.8 grams (17.2% less). It is still made of polypropylene, contains 10% recycled material and is 100% recyclable. FoodRetail reported the news on 2 September.
The change goes beyond weight. According to the manufacturer, the new material is more flexible, which helps heat sealing and copes better with small knocks, reducing the risk of breakage during transport, handling and on the shelf. The tub still shows the fruit inside and now carries the brand image. The managing director, Alberto Montaña, sums it up: in fresh-cut produce the pack is part of the product and any change has to be carefully measured. The division sold 2,300 tonnes in 2025, expects 2,500 in 2026 and accounts for around 47% of the company's turnover.
What it means for a packaging plant
Taking grams out of a pack looks like a purchasing decision, but it is felt mostly on the line. A thinner wall and a more flexible material change how the tub behaves at every step: denesting, filling, sealing, conveying and case packing. What used to work with generous margins may now be running close to the limit.
Sealing is the most sensitive point. With fresh-cut fruit and shelf lives of just a few days, a faulty seal rarely shows as it leaves the machine: it appears days later as a leak, spoiled product or a complaint. A material that seals better is good news, but it means reviewing the process window (jaw temperature, pressure and dwell time) and confirming it stays stable with the new material, batch after batch and with the recycled content. Juice or fruit residue in the seal area, an off-centre film or a deformed lid are typical faults worth detecting in line, on 100% of units, rather than in a sample at the end of the shift. That is the field of seal inspection with machine vision.
Handling changes too. A lighter, more flexible pack can deform in transfers, guides or pushers set up for the old one, and behave differently when stacked and case packed. And if the reduction comes with higher volumes, every small percentage of rejects weighs more in total waste.
Practical points before lightweighting a pack
- Validate the sealing window with the new material, including batches with recycled content, and record the parameters for every shift.
- Inspect the seal on 100% of units: contamination in the seal, wrinkles, shifted film and deformed lids.
- Review guides, transfers and grippers set up for the previous pack: a more flexible pack can jam or deform where the old one did not.
- Measure waste and complaints before and after the change, to know whether the plastic saving holds up in the final account.
- Test the full pallet: stacking, transport and shelf, not just the single unit.
Lightweighting is a trend that will continue, and the Peris case shows it can be done without losing product protection if the change is measured from start to finish. If you are preparing something similar on your line, let's talk.
