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Reusable Crates are made for produce
Idea came from Europe, where corrugated boxes were too expensive.
By Terry Scruton
Stuff Writer

WALTHAM, Mass. - Most people have heard the expression “thinking outside the box”.

Rentacrate Inc. has taken this expression one step further, going so far as to throw the box away entirely.

The company, which specializes in manufacturing and renting reusable plastic cares and cargo holders, recently introduced a line of reusable plastic crates designed for the produce industry.

Founder and president Michael Shanley said the idea for the crates came from Europe, where they have been in use for several years.

“Most of the corrugated cardboard in Europe is made here in the United States and shipped over there,” he said. “So it gets expensive. European countries were looking for ways to save money and to save landfill space.”

Eventually, the Europeans came up with the idea of reusable plastic crates in different types and sizes. Some were open like baskets to allow for airflow, while others were more enclosed.

Shanley and his partner, Karen Osborn, worked with a manufacturer in Quebec and made a similar product available in the United States this summer. While Shanley admits that the food industry has been slow to warm up to the idea, some companies that specialize in institutional food service have shown an interest in the crates.

One of the biggest pushes for the crates has come from Wal-Mart International Bentonville, Ark., which has begun using the crates to ship product to its new produce department.

“The market isn’t quite ready for the concept” Shanley said. “But Wal-Mart is turning heads and making people rethink the idea of cardboard boxes.”

Shanley said the crates could be used for just about anything, adding that size is the determining factor in what goes into them. Rentacrate offers crates in several heights, ranging form 7 inches to 14 inches. The dimensions of the crate are designed to mimic regular boxes with one difference; the walls of the crates are slanted to allow them to be stacked once they are empty and ready to be returned.

“It’s all about efficiency,” he said. Crates have several distinct advantages over corrugated paper, Shanley said. Corrugated paper has a tendency to crush easily and often arrives wet because of moisture condensation from the produce.

In addition, he said, this provides an ideal breeding environment for mold and burrowing bugs. Waxed boxes can be used to stop moisture leakage, but they can only be used once.

The plastic crates, Shanley said, are longer lasting, reusable and less susceptible to damage from shipping.

The crates also are growing in popularity among smaller niche markets, Shanley said, because they don’t have the purchasing power to get good prices on corrugated boxes, so they rent instead.

Shanley said the latest designs of the crates have features such as waterproof lids and a slot on the side for invoices so they don’t have to be stuck to the crates.

The ideal for these crates in the future, Shanley said, would be for multipurpose use. They could be used to ship berries one day, then cleaned out and used for shipping broccoli the next, rather that having to pay the cost of returning them to Rentacrate.
“That’s still a few years away,” he said.