An article from commercial grower magazine 22nd March 2007
ATLAS PACKAGING has collected a number of
prizes for its living plants packaging concept.
The UK firm carried off the awards for ‘Best
Transit Packaging’ and ‘Best Component’ in
this year’s Starpack awards.
The company explained that the design for its
winning creation came about after Kirton
Farm approached it with the brief to create a
box that needed to contain live plants in fibre
pots and could be posted out to customers
through a new internet section of it’s website.
Atlas faced the challenge of how to prevent
damage to the plants while travelling through
the post. To tackle this it employed a tough
EB flute outer, while creating a complex
fitting that saw a unique cradle encasing the
plants and holding them firmly in place inside
of the outer.
A dedicated Paraten board, sourced from
France, was added to address the problem of
moisture around the outside of the posts.
According to Atlas this gives the fitting a
water resistance that is needed to cope with
the overall dampness of the fibre posts and
foliage. The high walls of the fitting mean
that if the box is turned upside down the
plants will still be held tightly in place.
The finishing touches were then applied in the
shape of box graphics for extra visual effect.
Atlas says that the pack design can now be
easily adapted to take different types and
sizes of pots to suit specific customer needs.
A spokesman for Kirton Farm said: “We are
growing a new range of cottage garden plants
in eco friendly coir fibre pots supplying both
the garden centre market and our new retail
website. The environmentally friendly nature
of the product demanded a card packing
system rather than the more usual plastic
solutions to hold everything securely in transit
to the retail internet customers.”
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