The baglike package is made of a customised membrane that controls the rate at which oxygen enters and carbon dioxide leaves, maintaining the optimal gas mix.
"This agreement is the culmination of several years of market trials to successfully validate our proprietary Intelimer packaging technology with bananas and its value in the marketplace," said Landec chairman Gary Steele. "We are pleased that Chiquita recognizes the unique properties of our Intelimer technology and plans to use our packaging technology to add value to its banana products globally."
The success of the Intelimer represents a marketing breakthrough for membrane packaging. Market analyst BCC has been following food packaging trends closely, and believes that such packaging concepts are vital to the future of food production.
In its report, "Active, Controlled and Intelligent Packaging for Foods and Beverages," BCC says that advances in active packaging have spawned oxygen scavengers, antimicrobial films and gas permeable packages, while controlled packaging has led to modified atmosphere packaging, moisture absorbers and other hybrid forms of packages to keep foods fresh.
The analysts identify a trend towards conveniently packaged foods, fast-preparing or already prepared, with less chemical additives that still possess a long shelf life, and it is this growing sector that Landec is keen to exploit.
Chiquita says that it has been evaluating the Intelimer packaging technology for bananas for two years and, based on the results, is confident that the product can extend the shelf life of fruit.
Under the long-term agreement, Apio will supply Chiquita with its Intelimer banana packaging technology on a worldwide basis for the ripening, conservation and shelf-life extension of bananas in selective applications on an exclusive basis and for other applications on a non-exclusive basis.
In addition, Apio will provide Chiquita with ongoing research and development, process technology support for the Intelimer membranes and bags, and technical service support throughout the customer chain in order to assist in the development and market acceptance of the technology.
For its part, Chiquita will provide marketing, distribution and retail sales support for Chiquita bananas sold worldwide in Intelimer packaging. To maintain the exclusive license, Chiquita must meet minimum purchase thresholds of Intelimer-based banana packages.
Commercial shipments of Chiquita products utilising Landec's Intelimer packaging are scheduled to begin in early 2005. Chiquita and Landec have also agreed to work together to exploit the Intelimer packaging technology for other novel packaging applications using Chiquita bananas.
In addition, the two companies entered into a stock purchase agreement, whereby Landec will sell to Chiquita up to 500,000 shares of Landec common stock. The actual number and purchase price of the shares to be sold will be determined by an agreed formula based on the weighted average daily closing price of Landec's stock over the next 20 trading days.
"This agreement is consistent with our stated goals to expand the use of our proprietary technology and begin commercial sales of our Intelimer packaging technology for bananas during the second half of fiscal year 2005," said Steele. "This is a milestone for Landec's proprietary banana packaging programme.
Chiquita Brands International is one of the largest banana producers in the world and a major supplier of bananas in Europe and North America.