EMERALD NEWS & INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
OCT 2025
Flexible Packaging for Produce: Challenges and Opportunities – Packaging Strategies
Listen as CEO Kevin Kelly discusses Emerald Packaging’s Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) packaging project with Walmart and the challenges of getting brands and retailers to adopt sustainable flexible packaging.
SEPT 2025
Walmart Introduces First 30% Post-Consumer Recycled Bag for Retail Potatoes – The Packer
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, in partnership with Emerald Packaging, Idaho Package and Wada Farms, has introduced the first 30% food contact Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) bag for the potato category.
JULY 2024
Sustainable Packaging: Reducing Plastics in the Produce Department – Organic Produce Summit
CEO Kevin Kelly moderates a panel discussion at the 2024 Organic Produce Summit with Naomi Sakoda (Driscoll’s) Rachel Irons (Nude Food Markets), Bruce Taylor (Earthbound Farm) about how produce packaging is changing given the increased emphasis on sustainable packaging.
MAY 2024
Unwrapping Packaging Regulations Impacting Agricultural Trade and Sustainability – Farm Foundation Forum
CEO Kevin Kelly joins thought leaders to discuss packaging rules and regulations impacting US growers and companies, with a specific look at packaging in the fruit and vegetable supply chains
FEB 2024
Building a Sustainable Company – “The bag has proved mightier than the salad” — CEO.com
Kevin Kelly, CEO of Emerald Packaging, shares insights from his experience collaborating with farmers and understanding consumer needs, all while maintaining Emerald Packaging as a family-owned business.
DEC 2023
Emerald Packaging and D’Arrigo California partner to release a post-consumer recycled (PCR) bag for D’Arrigo’s premiere romaine hearts product, Andy Boy
The new romaine hearts bag is made up of 30 percent PCR plastic, reducing the need for virgin plastic production, taking a step towards a more circular economy
OCT 2022
We Are the Proud Sponsors of a 3,000 Tree Grove in Nepal
Along with our partner Evertreen we sponsored the planting of 3,000 trees, absorbed 450,00 KG of CO2, and created 375 working hours. See some trees being planted
AUG 2022
What the New Recycling Legislation Means to Growers and Grocers — The Packer
California’s governor recently signed into law the country’s most sweeping, rigorous restrictions on single-use plastics and packaging. It will affect everyone from growers, to grocers, to consumers. CEO Kevin Kelly joins a stellar group of panelists to discuss the new bill SB54, and how it will affect your business.
MARCH 2020
CEO Kevin Kelly Discusses the Impact of the Upcoming CA Packaging Legislation with The Packer
Kevin Kelly, CEO of Emerald Packing, says that recycling systems in California — and across the U.S. — aren’t currently set up to handle the flexible plastic bags that salad mix and other vegetables are packed in
NOVEMBER 2019
Emerald Packaging Extends Pre-Press Services into the Salinas Valley
Emerald Packaging becomes the first flexible packaging converter to offer pre-press services directly from the Salinas Valley. This expansion will provide onsite customer art and design services, thus improving D2P ( design to package) lead-times for the company’s Salinas Valley based customers.
OCTOBER 2019
California Green Business Network Certification
Emerald Packaging has been re-certified by the California Green Business Network. This program certifies that the company’s facilities and operations comply with rigorous environmental regulations in the areas of waste,energy,water, pollution prevention, and air quality.
AUGUST 2019
Industry Insight — CEO Kevin Kelly Addresses What’s on the Horizon for Single Use Plastics
After years of neglecting recycling, talking about recyclable solutions but not delivering, and working to stop bans, the plastics packaging industry stands on a precipice
JULY 2019
Industry Insight — “Plastic Has a Big Carbon Footprint — But That Isn’t the Whole Story”
Plastic waste gets a lot of attention when photos of dead whales with stomachs full of plastic bags hit the news. Pieces of plastic also litter cities, and tiny plastic particles are even floating in the air. Largely overlooked is how making plastic in the first place affects the environment, especially global warming. Plastic actually has a big carbon footprint, but so do many of the alternatives to plastic. And that’s what makes replacing plastic a problem without a clear solution.
MARCH 2019
Emerald Packaging wins the Silver Award for Sustainability
Emerald Packaging has won the prestigious Silver Award for Sustainability from the industry’s leading trade group, the Flexible Packaging Assn. (FPA). Emerald secured the prize by redesigning a pouch from a non-recyclable polyester/polyethylene structure to a recyclable polyethylene/polyethylene construction. Polyester, popular for its stiffness, gloss and barrier properties, remains unrecyclable. The company had to develop a proprietary polyethylene blend that retained enough of those properties to make the transition seamless. The product, a smoothie blend for Dole’s frozen division, supported the customer’s sustainability goals while preserving functionality.