Containers
Hi All!
Just posting this here as a way to keep a track of progress - for those who don't know we really want to replace the containers in the food hub! We discussed this at the meeting on 11th June, here's some of the points from that meeting;
Criteria for choosing containers:
o Ability to clean
o Closes well to keep food fresh and safe
o Food safe (i.e. not plastic which degrades)
o Allows you to see product inside
o Price
Secondary criteria (desirable but not necessary):
• Made sustainably
• Made locally
Should need around 40 – about ten of which would change regularly, the rest of which would always contain the same thing
Find 3 or 4 large containers to replace the muesli/oat bins – need to be closeable
And here is what Christa has found so far (Thanks Christa!)
I've found two different products, both supply from the UK. The cheaper option is http://www.ampulla.co.uk/Shop-For-Plastic/Large-Clear-Plastic-Jars/c-1-170-279/ and has a good range of sizes as I'm not sure what size we are using at the minute. The material used is PET and is easily recycled when we finish using them.
Trying to find more environmentally friendly ones is tough and I'm still looking into it! So far I have found this http://www.storeanddisplay.co.uk/range.php?id=35 Its uses a plastic that is made at a lower temperature than the therefore better for the environment however there is only one option of size and is more expensive.
Annmarie Sun 12 Jul 2015 8:07PM
I like the plasticboxshop one. More expensive than screw tops like we have now but has airtight seal so will keep food much better. It's worth calling them and seeing what kind of deal we could get for buying 40.
Andrea Vidal Durà Mon 13 Jul 2015 7:05AM
I've just joined this discussion...
I copy here what I sent in my last email:
We missed the last Green Exchange funding opportunity. The upcoming Green Exchange opportunity is in October, so if this gets delayed, we may be able to apply for it.
- The people from the maintenance/services (I don't know how it is called) doesn't seem to be very keen on looking at their suppliers to get an offer or something like that. So I would forget about them.
3.Kay Morrison (our Dev. Co) say that they will need a budget to have an idea of what they can do. She says that as we actually have money, the Union will need to have a very good proposal to give us funds. However, she suggested me to try in the Leeds Community Chest for funding available.
I will be around until the end of the month if we need to do anything to move this forwards
Joy Mon 13 Jul 2015 12:00PM
great research Jenny and Christa! my thoughts are that the ampulla ones are not much different from the ones we have- I think it's a good idea to go for something more durable and stronger and I think we can afford to pay more. The store and display ones are only 500g which could be good for some things but we'll need bigger for other things. I think we might actually need a mix of different types or at least different sizes. The food storage one is nice in that it is space efficient and ergonomic for pouring, but I think it's too expensive. Maybe they can do us a deal if we buy lots or we need to find more of an industrial supplier of the same thing. The buy lock and stock one from plastic boxes looks good for airtightness but my concern is about pourability- maybe the corners would help with pouring and the square shape will be space efficient. I guess the next level of detail to think about would be which capacity we should go for for storing which of our 40 products. Annmarie, perhaps you and I can have a think about this as we continue to go through the stock list. Are you free to meet anytime this week? I'd be free tomorrow evening.
Joy Mon 13 Jul 2015 12:02PM
Sorry, realised I wasn't very clear- just going through the pros ans cons of each one rather than making a firm statement! About the buy lock and stock one, I first wondered if they would be easy to pour from, but then my second thought was that the square shape might actually help with pouring because you can use the corners.
Joy Mon 13 Jul 2015 12:06PM
PS this just came up in my cookies! Probably you saw it too and it's only 1.1 litre capacity but nice seal http://www.plasticboxshop.co.uk/home-storage-c1/kitchen-organisation-c19/plastic-food-boxes-c29/1-1lt-tall-round-acrylic-plastic-airtight-seal-food-container-p1184
Sorry think you'll need to copy and paste the link
Jenny Scattergood Mon 13 Jul 2015 12:51PM
I agree let's see how many of each size we'd need and then we can start asking about bulk purchases - i think the suppliers listed might be able to do bulk purchases, the plastic box shop definitely does.
Christa Brown Mon 20 Jul 2015 8:53AM
I like the square one from plastic box, that'd be convenient for pouring and has a decent air tight lid too. How many smaller containers do we need? I was thinking about 5-10 of the 1 litre containers that Joy found on plastic box then we could get 30-35 bigger containers?
Joy Tue 21 Jul 2015 8:45AM
Annmarie and I completed the stock list the other day and please correct me on this Annmarie, but I think we had about 41 products in boxes, and figured actually that they could all be in the 4L containers because even if they are not full, they will keep fresher than in bags in the drawer. We thought to go for 50 so that we can have some spare in case we decide to add new products, and also a couple for rotating experimental products. So maybe the smaller ones are not necessary. See what you think, and let's try to negotiate a deal. I'm happy to do this unless someone else is keen.
Joy Tue 21 Jul 2015 8:53AM
PS we also needed 2 or 3 bins. Did anyone look for them?
Jenny Scattergood · Sat 11 Jul 2015 1:19PM
So I've really struggled to find anything - the ones Christa suggested are probably the best we're going to find! Everything was either not BPA free or too expensive.
Here's the very best of what I could find...
http://www.oxouk.com/p-1265-pop-cereal-dispenser-medium-32l.aspx - very expensive, but BPA free and their offices are based in Sheffield, but I have no idea where these are actually made...
http://www.plasticboxshop.co.uk/home-storage-c1/kitchen-organisation-c19/lock-lock-food-containers-c111/4lt-tall-square-plastic-cookie-jar-with-airtight-rubber-seal-lid-p1694 - cheaper but not as cheap as what Christa found