At Naranjas del Carmen we live and work the way we think. Nearly every day someone of the team thinks of a way to improve something. The ideas for improvement do not just come from our team, but also from our customers (who we call "presidents"). Not all of the members of our team have the same level of ecologic conscience, but everyone participates in the decision-making process.
For us, being ecological does not only reflect in our way of producing, but also in how we send our products, the quantities and the material used. And in our way of thinking!
Transport: The orders make their way directly from the source to the shipment address indicated by our customer (our president). This way we achieve that the shipment travels the least kilometers possible and in the shortest time. We group various orders to send them at once and use spaces in programmed transport routes. If we had the budget of a multinational company, we would like to conduct a study on how to diminish our carbon footprint even further when sending the products directly to the final consumer. For now, we comply with the studies that we can find on the web of oficial institutions. We do not stock fresh products: We harvest the fruit or vegetable from our garden on demand on the same day we send them off (or a bit before, when we predict rainfall 😉).
Material used for shipping: Our cardboard boxes are made of reusable material. We do not use plastics to protect our products. Since the year 2011 we have dedicated a lot of effort and time to consider how to send orders with recycled materials, that guarantee that the products arrive well. Each year, we improve and continue improving, because this topic motivates us and gives us a lot to look forward to.
Containers
The containers of our "dry" products, like olive oil, wine and honey also occupy our minds.
Organic olive oil (tinplate container of 2,5 liters). The design of our containers for the organic olive oil and the material used for it have undergone and evolution and continue to do so until we have found a container according to our values. The container we currently use was designed without labels to avoid the use of plastic as much as possible. The caps are made of polyethylen of high and low density (HDPE – LDPE) and are free from BPA. The new canister has a BPA-free coating on the inside. The coating prevents the olive oil from oxidising due to direct contact with the tinplate
Organic Extra-virgin olive oil (2.5l Bag-in-Box): This system consists of a sturdy cardboard box containing a flexible inner bag, designed to protect and preserve the freshness of the olive oil. Thanks to the hermetic seal, contact with oxygen is minimized, considerably extending the oil's shelf-life and preventing oxidation. An advantage of Bag-in-Box packaging is the reduced use of materials compared to conventional rigid packaging. The combination of cardboard and the internal bag structure means minimal use of plastic.
Click here to see how to use Bag-in-Box packaging correctly.
Marmalades : The marmalades are sent in glass jar with a kraft label.
We are a young team of various nationalities and a very open mind. We are grateful for any comments, ideas and critiques you want to share with us about our shipping materials and packaging.