Booker switches to cardboard for catering packs of mushrooms

Booker is transitioning from plastic to cardboard trays for its catering-sized packs of Farm Fresh Mushrooms.

Cardboard trays are currently available from Booker’s Magor and Livingston distribution centres, with Haydock and Hatfield DCs following from June.

Switching to cardboard trays is forecast to remove over 280 tonnes of plastic from Booker’s supply chain annually, as well as delivering numerous operational benefits – including easier handling and less transport packaging. The removal of all elastic bands from trays is a change that is forecast to save more than 900,000 bands per year.

Booker’s head of sustainability Cath Marston said: “We’re always looking for ways to improve packaging for products across both the retail and catering areas of our business, and we’re thrilled to make this important shift for our catering-sized packs of mushrooms – part of our 3Rs strategy to Remove, Reduce or Recycle packaging wherever we can.

“We’re delighted to have been able to work in partnership with our valued suppliers to make this change, whilst continuing to deliver the high-quality mushrooms our catering customers expect and we hope to make similar changes across our retail-sized products in the future.”