News » 16.10.2026 - Flower packaging trials explore ways to extend post-harvest life

PeelON is testing functional liners for cut flowers that fit inside existing export cartons and are designed to provide an additional quality buffer during storage and transport. In one cold-room trial at 4–8°C, Chinese roses stored with the liner reached 31 days of recorded shelf life, compared with 10 days for the control, says Taraka Moturu of PeelON.

"With flowers, every additional usable day has commercial value. Once a flower is harvested, the clock starts. Exporters have done a tremendous amount of work around pre-cooling, temperature management and cold-chain logistics, but there are still factors outside their control. A flight can be delayed or cancelled, customs can take longer than expected, inventory can remain at the importer for an additional day, or market demand can change. The question we're asking is: what if the packaging could give that supply chain an additional quality buffer? For us, shelf life isn't just about keeping a flower alive longer. It's about what additional usable time could allow a grower, exporter or importer to do."

Liners designed for existing export systems
The PeelON liner is placed around flower bunches inside a standard export carton, which then moves through the existing cold chain. Moturu says the approach is intended to complement refrigeration rather than replace it.

"The concept is intentionally simple. The flower bunches are packed into the normal export system, but a PeelON functional liner is placed around the flowers inside the export carton. The cartons then continue through the existing cold chain. So we're not asking exporters to completely redesign their packing operations. Conventional packaging is primarily passive. We are trying to make the packaging functional. PeelON incorporates naturally derived functional components into the packaging material. The objective is to create a protective microenvironment around the flowers that helps manage factors such as moisture, dehydration and conditions associated with microbial or fungal deterioration. But for a flower exporter, I don't think the chemistry should be the main story. What matters is whether the flowers arrive in a commercially acceptable condition and whether the packaging can provide additional time without disrupting the existing supply chain."

Results vary between rose types
PeelON's reported cold-room trials produced different results for Chinese and Indian roses. Moturu says the variation underlines the need to assess performance by flower type and storage conditions rather than relying on a single shelf-life figure.

"One thing we've learned is that we shouldn't talk about one universal number for flowers. Biology doesn't work that way. In one cold-room trial at 4–8°C, Chinese roses without the PeelON solution had a recorded shelf life of 10 days. Roses stored with PeelON reached 31 days, a difference of 21 days. Indian roses recorded seven days in the control and 12 days with PeelON, an improvement of five days. Flower variety, starting quality, temperature, humidity, post-harvest handling, packaging configuration and storage or transit conditions can all influence the outcome. Our objective now is to understand where PeelON provides the greatest benefit and validate that under increasingly commercial conditions."

Additional time and supply-chain flexibility
Moturu says the commercial value of a longer post-harvest life depends on how it affects decisions throughout the supply chain. Extra time could give exporters and importers more flexibility when shipments are delayed or inventory takes longer to sell, although the results do not automatically translate into higher prices or fewer rejections.

"If everything in the supply chain works perfectly, additional shelf life is useful. But the value becomes much clearer when something doesn't go according to plan. Suppose a shipment misses a flight connection. Or customs clearance takes an extra day. Perhaps flowers have to remain in cold storage longer than expected, or an importer needs additional time to move inventory. If your product has very little remaining commercial life, every delay puts pressure on the supply chain. If exporters have more usable days, they have more options. It can potentially mean more tolerance for logistics disruption, greater inventory flexibility and a longer window in which flowers can be marketed. We're careful not to say that additional shelf life automatically means a higher selling price or eliminates rejection. We're interested in evaluating whether an additional quality buffer could also make some longer or more complex supply chains worth considering, but those routes need to be tested under actual commercial conditions."

Moturu stresses that packaging remains one part of post-harvest management, alongside initial flower quality, handling and temperature control. PeelON is also developing compostable material systems, but he says performance must be established first.

"The cold chain manages temperature. PeelON is intended to provide an additional quality buffer within that system. We want to work with the infrastructure exporters already have rather than position packaging as a substitute for good post-harvest practices. Performance has to come first. A sustainable package that doesn't adequately protect a high-value flower isn't solving the grower's problem. We are developing PeelON around compostable material systems, but we deliberately don't want sustainability to distract from the first question an exporter will ask us: does it work for my flowers and my supply chain?"

Further trials planned
PeelON's next step is to test more flower varieties, origins, storage periods and commercial routes with growers and exporters. Moturu says repeatability will be more important than achieving another high result in an individual trial.

"We want to test additional flower varieties, origins, storage periods and commercial routes, and work directly with growers and exporters to understand where the technology creates the greatest economic value. A 21-day improvement in one trial is certainly encouraging, but what matters commercially is repeatability. The next stage is therefore not simply about producing another impressive shelf-life number. It's about understanding performance across different flowers and real supply chains. Ultimately, the question we want growers and exporters to ask isn't only, 'How many extra days can I get?' It's also: 'What could I do differently if I had those extra days?'"

PeelON will be exhibiting during the IFPA in Orlando. Their stand number is 4132.
 

Source: www.floraldaily.com

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