GSL launches cost-effective home compostable produce label

GSL, a healthcare sector labeling specialist, has launched Naturetag, a certified eco-friendly, food-safe fresh produce label that promises to disrupt the market with its cost-effective price point.

The Naturetag label is home compostable and biodegradable, allowing customer to leave it on the skin of produce when discarded offering the same biodegradability rate at as the produce skin, leaving no harmful toxins in the environment or soil. The label degrades into useable compost within 365 days.

The paper-based product presents global produce suppliers and retailers with a quality, food-safe, and plastic-free alternative that is, according to the company, more cost effective than competitive labels currently available. It has been developed especially for small-to-medium-sized grower-suppliers which apply produce labels by hand.

Naturetag has been formulated to adhere to any fruit or vegetable skin without leaving residue on removal. The eco-label is compatible with all labeling systems used globally for the automated, high-speed application of branding and PLU labels. It can be printed in any size, shape, or color, and in the form of a sticker or tape wrap for bananas.

Richard Smith, CEO of GSL, said: ‘This is a superior fresh produce label with the best eco credentials on the market, at a fraction of the cost. Using our IP and experience in healthcare, we have developed a fully certified, plastic-free, home-compostable label for produce that performs better than any other home-compostable labeling product on the market.

‘Sustainability, micro-plastic eradication, and cost reduction is paramount in the current global socio-economic climate, and Naturetag is the perfect high-quality solution for fruit growers, importers, and the retail supply chain worldwide.

We can supply the Naturetag label at a significantly lower price point, which provides a major cost saving. Naturetag specifically suits growers and suppliers who want to offer environmentally sustainable labelling credentials to their retail customers who, in turn, are striving to achieve sustainable development goals, and, in certain markets such as France, to comply with a ban on non-compostable labels.’

According to Smith, Naturetag is certified for home compostability which means it will biodegrade naturally without the industrial composting requirements of heat and pressure.

‘The adhesive formulation of Naturetag is certified for direct contact to food, and it adheres extremely well without leaving residue when removed from the product skin; as proven in recent successful transit trials on bananas from Central America to the UK. The label’s paper construction is FSC-certified which identifies that it is sourced from sustainably managed forests too,’ concluded Smith.