Feb 7, 2018

lēf Farms adopts clamshell packaging to meet consumer demand

New England’s lēf Farms recently announced clamshell packaging that’s a radical departure from the previous packaging designs.

“There’s no doubt that everyone loves our baby greens that, up until now, were available in distinctive black bags. Consumers expressed to us they were having difficulty finding our products in a consistent location within their local stores, as produce managers often placed them away from the traditional salad wall,” said lēf Sales & Marketing Manager, Donald Grandmaison.

lēf Farms is a 75,000-sq. ft. greenhouse growing facility, producing nearly than 1.5 million pounds annually of the freshest and healthiest baby greens for New England.

With the improved clamshell packaging, retailers are now able to consistently incorporate lēf products into locations where consumers are more apt to look for tasty local greens. Switching over to clamshells also helps reduce the amount of food waste by protecting the greens during transit, as well as during the stocking and restocking of product dispensers at store level.

“Within the baby greens space,” Grandmaison said. “Our retailer partners indicated they were much more in favor of clamshells because they were easier to attractively stack, load, and restock product as compared to bags. So, to us, putting our greens into clamshells made perfect sense.”

The clamshell packaging also provides consumers with more convenience, as they stack easily inside any refrigerator. Plus, the re-sealable closure helps reduce wilting and food waste by keeping the greens as fresh as when they first came home from the store.

Like the original bags, lēf’s new clamshells carry a clean and simple design, accented by a color band to differentiate each of the unique blends offered.

So, lēf’s Smooth greens, which are a buttery blend of baby romaine, oakleaf lettuce, pac choi, and mizuna, will continue to have a blue band. Its Spice mix, a robust mix of baby arugula, red mustard, leaf lettuce, mizuna, and cress, will still carry a red band. And Balance, a delicate blend of red and green baby kale with a subtle, sweet flavor, will still have the same tan color band as before.

lēf’s new design also takes advantage of unique clear labeling, allowing consumers to see more of its scrumptious baby greens before they buy.

“This was another important area for us to address in our repackaging efforts,” states Grandmaison. “Consumers are passionate about their produce. And they want to see as much of what’s inside the packages before they buy. This knowledge helped shape our approach to the graphic design of our new clams. The more open our design, the more customers can see how much our locally grown greens visually outperform any product out there,” smiles Grandmaison. “Our new clamshells offer nearly 95 percent product visibility, which literally speaks about our commitment to transparency in everything we do.”

As with all of lēf’s business decisions, the move to clamshells also needed to take into consideration environmental implications. Although its initial bags were recyclable, lēf’s new clamshells are made of a much more commonly recycled material, food-grade PETE 1 (polyethylene terephthalate) – making them more easily recovered by most community programs.

Above: lēf’s Smooth, Spice and Balance baby greens are now available in distinctively new clamshells that hold 4 oz. of the farms’ unique mixes.

Below: lēf Farms’ 8-pack Retailer Box contains eight, 4 oz. clamshells of the Northeast’s freshest baby greens.