Detachable Point of Sale Material for Asparagus Shipper

Gourmet Trading Company is a fresh fruit and vegetable distributor specializing in asparagus, blueberries, and blackberries. The company currently mails a 7 " by 11 " sign to be displayed with their asparagus which arrives in a 28 pound shipper. The signs are intended to be displayed in stores to give consumers information about the asparagus. Unfortunately, many of the signs do not get displayed since they are shipped separately. The purpose of the project is to redesign the 28 pound asparagus shipper to include a detachable point of sale sign. A literature search was conducted to further understand the needs of the project. This included research on shipping and packaging fruits and vegetables as well as packaging functions in produce. A similar asparagus package was discovered as well. Three alternative solutions were developed which all included the detachable point of sale material. The alternatives underwent distribution testing using the ASTM D4169 test schedule. All of the packages successfully passed the testing without damage to the asparagus. The best solution was the one that was easiest for the end user to remove, which was an asparagus shipper that had a removable flap. The flap used 3/8 " perforations along the edge for simple and easy removal. The end product successfully protects the asparagus and is easy to use. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank everyone involved with this project that made it possible. First of all I would like to thank Gourmet Trading Company for taking the time to create this project. They were able to identify a need and provide me an opportunity to help solve it. Gourmet Trading Company was gracious enough to provide asparagus samples that made distribution testing more symbolic of a real shipping environment. I specifically want to thank my technical advisor at Gourmet Trading Company, Chloé Varennes. She was able to promptly answer any and all of my questions regarding the project with accurate responses. Chloé was invaluable to the project and was a significant help. Next, I would like to thank and acknowledge Cal Poly's Industrial Technology program as well as Cal Poly's Packaging department. This project would not have been possible without the resources provided by the departments. The facilities and software that were available were utilized for the project including ArtiosCAD, the packaging dynamics lab, and the Kongsberg table. The Packaging department provided the plastic corrugate sheets which made this …