Italian specialist foods company Citres has repackaged its range of pickles, pestos and sauces in a range of new polypropylene jars produced by RPC Group.
Supplying both retail and foodservice sectors particularly in northern Europe, Citres has worked with RPC to develop a solution that meets its requirements for long shelf life (up to 36 months), lightness, resealability, recyclability.
According to Citres, some markets have restricted and in certain cases banned the use of glass in foodservice kitchens, requiring instead the introduction of safer and lighter weight jars.
The jars developed by RPC all feature a multilayer PP/EVOH/PP construction that can be pasteurised and sterilised to provide a long ambient shelf life.
Citres claims to be the only Italian company offering products in plastic 2300g and 3700g sizes, thanks to the company’s own specially developed filling technology, which ensures that the containers do not deform during the pasteurisation process.
In jars produced by RPC Corby and RPC Kutenholz, with caps from RPC Halstead, Citres is supplying its 100g (Classic Jar) for pesto and sauces; the 2400g (Thermic Ultra) size for olives, sliced artichokes and dried tomatoes; and the 3800g (Amgall) size for a variety of sliced and diced vegetables.
“At a time when the market for products in brine and oil has hardly seen any innovation, we are taking the lead and demonstrating what can be achieved,” says Citres sales manager for Italy, Angelo Mis.
“The results have already been very good and have enabled us to further develop our products and recipes with new introductions. RPC has played an important role in the success of this project.”
