re~fresh flower liners have been specifically designed to keep fresh cut flowers fresher longer by minimising moisture and petal loss. This enables the packaged blooms to hold their colour and arrive at their destination in prime condition.

The liners have been custom developed for Ellbee Ltd by modified atmosphere packaging specialists Convex Plastics, and are especially ideal for keeping flowers in premium condition during long haul transporting and export.

Along with extending the shelf-life of most varieties by up to a week, re~fresh flower liners have also provided many growers with significant time and cost savings by eliminating the need to use vials and floss.

re~fresh flower liners have been successfully used over the past several seasons for exporting fresh cut flowers from New Zealand to Asia and the USA, and have helped maximise the shelf-life and presentation of fresh cut flowers being transported across the United States.

The liners work by manipulating the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide surrounding the packed flowers to reduce their respiration. This in turn decreases ethylene production and minimises moisture and petal loss.

Along with aiding in the transport of the flowers, both domestically and internationally, re~fresh liners can also potentially enable growers and/or packers to take advantage of price fluctuations by holding on to their flowers longer without compromising their condition.

Free Trials Offered Now you can see how re~fresh works on your flowers by requesting a free trial. The re~fresh trial process takes approximately three months. The first two are carried out at one of several postharvest testing laboratories we use in various parts of the world to scientifically design films that match the respiration rate of the specific variety of flowers to be packaged. The final month is carried out in partnership with you, the potential user, to ensure that the liners are adding the value you need. Contact us today to arrange your free trial

How re~fresh Works

While most traditional liners can reduce the amount of moisture permeating out of the pack and limit the amount of ethylene permeating into the flowers from the external environment, only re~fresh liners are permeable enough to vent the ethylene being produced by the flower inside the pack. Because all cut flowers continue to respire and produce ethylene after harvesting, we have developed a process that creates a passive modified atmosphere within the re~fresh liners that is custom designed to suit the handling conditions, ethylene sensitivity and respiration rate of the specific variety of flowers to be packaged.

This in turn lowers the respiration rate of the packaged flowers, reduces the amount of ethylene being produced, and inhibits the effectiveness of the ethylene that is already present.

Along with the modified atmosphere technology, we have also incorporated a resin into the inside layer of the re~fresh film structure which helps remove excess ethylene from within the package.

re~fresh liners are currently commercially available for several varieties of flowers, including Hydrangeas, Helleborus, Peonies, Boronia, Leptospermum, Trillium, Eremus Lillies and Waratah. Liners for several other varieties are currently under development, and customised liners can be developed for specific requested crops.

re~fresh flower liners help maximise the life and presentation of many varieties of fresh cut flowers. Ellbee Ltd director, Derek Lankshear, demonstrates the three packaging stages with re~fresh.