Plastic packaging company Astrapak and flexible packaging company Afripack have announced a joint venture (JV) to meet the growing demand for packaging solutions in the perishable-foods industry.
The JV will strengthen the customer base in the market and introduces Netherlands-based PerfoTec technology to the South African market. PerfoTec technology offers improved product shelf life and reduced food waste to the local market with its modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) system.

The PerfoTec MAP technology is a laser-based microperforation system and will be part of the Astrapak-Afripack JV to take advantage of growth opportunities in perishable-foods packaging.

The system entails the practice of modi- fying the composition of the internal atmos- phere of a food package to improve its shelf life. The balancing of gases in a package is achieved through gas-flushing techniques and compensated vacuum techniques, or passively by designing breathable films using microperforation technology to provide equilibrium in the atmospheres of the fresh-produce bags, used to package fresh produce, achieving superior in-transit and on-shelf quality and product reliability.

Afripack set up a venture in Kenya last year in partnership with Netherlands-based Dillewijn and Kenya-based General Printers Limited, and installed the first PerfoTec line in Africa to service fresh-fruit and vegetable farmers supplying produce to Europe.

Astrapak’s Knilam operation, in Cape Town, has been the market leader in MAP in South Africa for many years and was one of the first to attain British Retail Consortium (BRC) accreditation for its facility, in 2006.

Knilam will source the PerfoTec materials and technology for the local market through the BRC-accredited Mapflex facility, in Kenya, and thereby adding the latest technology to Astrapak’s product offering. An investment for local manufacture will be made when commercially viable.

“Arrangements between Afripack and Astrapak will ensure an unmatched offering to the MAP market, assuring quality pack- aging production and consumer peace of mind locally and in markets across Southern, Central and East Africa,” concludes Astrapak CEO Robin Moore.