Sustainable packaging is becoming a potentially powerful retail magnet for attracting organic produce shoppers.

More merchandisers are looking to deliver products in eco-friendly parcels to appeal to the large base of sustainable-minded consumers who are already drawn to organic selections, said presenters at Organic Produce Summit 2026 in Monterey, Calif.

“Wrapping the organic products in cellophane defeats the purpose of what you are trying to communicate,” said Justin Rowe, produce category business manager at Schenectady, N.Y.-based Northeast Shared Services, operator of Price Chopper, Market 32 and Tops Friendly Markets banner stores.

Retailers can benefit by “trying to use more responsible packaging, whether that be fiber trays or just getting away from plastic,” he said.

Consumer interest in sustainable packaging, however, will vary by banner, said Todd Smith, senior category manager, produce, for Save Mart Co., a Modesto, Calif.-based operator of approximately 200 Save Mart, Lucky and FoodMaxx stores throughout California and Western Nevada.

Shoppers in the FoodMaxx value-oriented stores, for instance, will be least willing to pay more for sustainable solutions, he said. “It depends on the median income of the area you are serving,” Smith said. “Sustainable packaging comes at a cost. It is more expensive than standard plastics and many consumers say they want it until they must spend more for it.”

Sustainable packaging is “doing well” at Sprouts Farmers Market, a Phoenix-based natural and organic food retailer and operator of 485 stores in 25 states, said Rachel O’Connor, produce category manager—tomatoes, potatoes, onions, pumpkins and non-fresh packaged.

“We focus on not using plastic and to have organic items in organic sustainable packaging,” she said. “It looks nice when you have the whole package together.”

While Sprouts offers onions in sustainable bags, the retailer is still trying to develop sustainable solutions for other types of produce, such as potatoes, and that can be challenging when dealing with high material and labor expenses, O’Connor said.

Diverse types of eco-friendly produce packaging, meanwhile, are gaining interest. Forty-two percent of produce consumers, for instance, indicated that recyclable packaging is a purchase priority, while 32% cited products with reduced plastic, and 22% were interested in packaging made from plant-based materials, states The Power of Produce 2026 report, published by Arlington, Va.-based FMI—The Food Industry Association.

Consumer research by McKinsey & Co., a New York-based global management consulting firm, also found recyclability to be the most important factor for consumers considering sustainable packaging and that it is more important for fresh fruit and vegetables.