Banana 'Gore-Tex' Pack May Alter Snack Retail
By: Natalie Erlich | Writer/Producer
Chiquita Brands has a new packaging twist for its bananas, and the produce company is betting you’ll buy single bananas at candy-bar prices, at your local convenience store. Greg Bauer, vice president of GEN3 -- Chiquita's partner in the packaging venture -- revealed secrets behind the new version of nature's treat, on "Power Lunch."
GEN3 teamed up with Chiquita in order to break into the convenience store market by using high-tech wrappers: “Think of it as Gore-Tex for a banana,” Bauer said. The wrapper “puts the banana into a perfect environment,” giving it more longevity -- and perhaps changing the economics of the produce market. So far, the futuristic fruit -- labeled Chiquita-To-Go -- is selling in 8,000 convenience stores, alongside candies and other treats.
Bauer told CNBC's Sue Herera that his firm used technologies developed in the champagne and pharmaceutical industries: “We believe the process of innovation can be less risky if it’s a process of adoption versus a process of invention.”
GEN3 clients also run to the industrial, including Clorox and Alcoa.
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