Feasibility of active and intelligent packaging for local and organic food in Southern Finland

The sales of organic and local food have increased in the EU in recent years together with consumers' interest in these foods. This study explores the feasibility of innovative packaging for organic and local food. Attitudes and opinions of eighteen local and organic food chains in Southern Finland were collected with semi-structural interviews carried out during the fall 2015. The stakeholders were micro- and small-scale producers and processors of fish, meat, berries, and mushrooms, wholesalers, retailers, and institutional kitchens. The aim was to understand factors promoting and preventing the penetration of innovative packaging solutions into organic and local food market. A clear majority of the respondents held a general positive attitude towards active and intelligent packaging technologies, and thought that active and intelligent solutions are equally suitable for local and organic food as for conventional food. This is in line with previous results on positive attitudes of Finnish consumers and retailers towards intelligent packaging. However, less than half of the respondents would actually use the technologies in their own products due to a range of reasons, such as price increase, lack of value added, and possible technical complexity. Those having a negative attitude towards advanced technologies emphasized the importance of human senses in detecting food spoilage.