In collaboration with RPC (www.rpc-group.com), Citres Spa, the Italian food specialist in pickles, pesti and sauces, is pioneering the supply of its products in new polypropylene jars.

With a major focus of its turnover in Northern Europe, Citres Spa has developed a plan to meet the needs of customers in markets which for some time have restricted and in certain cases banned the use of glass in foodservice kitchens, requiring instead the introduction of more ecological, safe and lightweight jars.

The company has therefore worked with RPC to develop a solution that meets its requirements for long shelf life (up to 36 months), lightness, resealability, recyclability and easy opening, while maintaining the freshness and authenticity of the products.

The RPC jars all feature a multilayer PP/EVOH/PP construction that can be pasteurised and sterilised to provide a long ambient shelf life.

Today in 2300g and 3700g sizes, Citres Spa is the only Italian company to offer products in packaging that delivers all these additional benefits thanks in particular to its specially-developed filling technology which ensures that the containers do not deform during the pasteurisation process.

Using RPC’s extensive range of jars, Citres Spa supplies products to both retail and fooservice sectors. RPC is supplying its 100g (Classic Jar) for Pesto and Sauces, the 2400 g (Thermic Ultra) for Olives, Sliced Artichokes and Dried Tomatoes, and the 3800 g (Amgall) for a variety of sliced and diced vegetables. The jars are produced by RPC Corby and RPC Kutenholz, with caps from RPC Halstead.

Citres Spa says reaction to the new packaging has been extremely positive from both customers and consumers with listings now being achieved in some of Italy’s leading supermarkets.

“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 Angelo Mis, Citres Spa’s sales manager for Italy.

“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.”

Nevertheless, he adds that the company has plans to develop its packaging even further: “Our goal now is to replace tinplate, which does not meet our requirements in terms of safety and praticality.”