An expanded polypropylene (EPP) tote from DS Smith Plastics offers outstanding insulation helping to reduce food wastage, they are easy and comfortable to handle, and their lightweight reduces carbon emissions and transportation costs.
The weekly food shop is now all about convenience. Today’s digitally connected consumers want to take punctual online home delivery at a time that suits them. Therefore, all major UK supermarkets now have online shopping options where anyone has the option to click and collect or have their groceries delivered to their door, and EPP totes are an excellent fit for that application.
To ensure this growing market delivers fresh unspoilt produce online retailers are utilising reusable EPP totes trays and EPP tote liners that can seamlessly be integrated throughout their automated supply chains to facilitate super-efficient picking, packing and delivery.
Expanded Polypropylene is a hygienic material and is food contact safe so bagging is not necessary. It is washable, reusable and offers excellent insulation all the way from supermarket or fulfilment centre picking to the customer’s front door. An EPP insulated tote ensures exceptional food quality upon delivery even if the tote has been subject to temperature shock that could occur during a summer heat wave, extended delivery times or delivery vehicle break downs. Cushioning properties of EPP also help to dampen any bumps that fresh groceries could be prone to throughout the supply line.
An insulated EPP tote liner can be moulded precisely to fit any current tote system and tailored to infrastructure already in place. They are available in a variety of colours to support retailer’s brands and/or colour coding requirements.
EPP totes are durable and have a long lifecycle which helps to prolong or avoid the need to manufacture replacement product that would consume new raw material, energy and the labour of creating a new product. Totes that eventually fail at the end of their useful life are fully recyclable.
The use of an EPP tote is not however limited to the food retail they also have applications to help protect fragile electronics and pharmaceuticals. DS Smith Plastics Foam Products can help retailers optimise their supply chain with a focus on efficiencies and handling ergonomics.
