AVI Global Plast is strengthening India’s role in the global fresh produce packaging supply chain by combining vertically integrated manufacturing with a growing portfolio of recycled PET formats designed for export markets. The company’s operation in Daman, western India, brings together PET sheet extrusion, tooling development and thermoforming within a single facility, giving it tighter control over production timing, cost management and format development for international fruit and vegetable customers.

That integrated model is becoming increasingly relevant as fresh produce exporters face a more fragmented retail landscape. Suppliers are no longer shipping to one destination with one standard format. Instead, they often serve several markets at the same time, each with different retail expectations, portion sizes and pack specifications. For packaging manufacturers, that means flexibility has become a competitive requirement rather than an added benefit.

AVI Global Plast’s Daman facility spans around 300,000 square feet and produces roughly 24,000 tonnes of PET sheet annually, supporting a broad range of thermoformed packaging for produce categories such as berries, grapes, cherry tomatoes, kiwifruit, apples and avocados. According to the company, this scale and vertical integration help it supply exporters, growers and distributors across 33 countries and six continents, reflecting the increasingly global character of produce packaging demand.

The main challenge is adaptation to different retail environments. In grapes, for example, North American markets often favour larger clamshell formats such as 1lb, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 10oz and 3lb, while European retailers typically work with smaller pack sizes such as 250g, 500g and 1kg. Similar differences exist in berries, where 125g punnets remain common in Europe, one-pint formats dominate in North America and larger presentations are used in parts of Latin America.

For exporters serving several destinations at once, packaging flexibility is no longer optional; it is essential to matching regional retail standards without disrupting supply efficiency.

That need for responsiveness is driving product development. Alongside its standard range, AVI Global Plast says its in-house design, mould and tooling capabilities have enabled it to create several first-to-market produce formats in India. These include single-piece avocado punnets, two-piece avocado packs and three-fruit kiwifruit punnets, formats intended to improve fruit stability in transit while also supporting freshness and shelf presentation. In practical terms, this shows how packaging innovation in fresh produce is often shaped less by headline technology and more by structural design that responds to real export and retail conditions.

Sustainability is another major factor behind this evolution. As retailers and regulators across several regions tighten expectations around recycled content and packaging taxes, exporters need formats that can meet performance needs while also aligning with changing compliance demands. AVI Global Plast manufactures mono-material produce punnets using up to 100 per cent recycled PET, and says it was the first company in India to install technology capable of processing food-grade recycled PET sheet for thermoformed containers. That gives the company a stronger position in a market where clarity, strength and food-contact suitability must now be balanced against circularity goals.

The company’s strategy reflects a broader direction in produce packaging: customers want packs that can travel reliably through complex cold and export chains, satisfy different retail requirements and respond to mounting sustainability pressure at the same time. By combining recycled materials, integrated manufacturing and tailored format development, AVI Global Plast is presenting flexibility as a form of packaging innovation in its own right. In the fresh produce sector, where fruit may pass through multiple handling stages before reaching the shelf, that ability to adapt format, material and production under one roof is becoming an increasingly valuable proposition.