PRESS RELEASE – SA STICKERS BAN ON HOLD – WHAT’S NEXT?

As South Australia pauses its planned ban on plastic produce stickers, the conversation around scalable and sustainable alternatives has never been more important.

Stickers have long played a vital role in the fresh produce supply chain, ensuring food safety, supporting effective stock control, and helping consumers and retailers identify produce at checkout. Their role is recognised, and this pause highlights the need for thoughtful, collective progress toward sustainable alternatives.

This is not a time for blame or resistance – it’s a time for collaboration and practical action.

At Result Group, we’ve spent years developing and refining Natural Branding – a laser based technology that eliminates the need for stickers altogether. By using laser to etch essential information directly onto the skin of fresh produce, it offers a safe, packaging free alternative.

The technology is already in commercial use – proven during our Phase 1 – Easter campaign with Costa Group avocados in Woolworths, and currently with Phase 2 – driving a consumer facing promotion again in Woolworths and Costa Group across Victoria. The feedback has been strong and positive, with clear support from consumers.

But innovation must also address real world industry challenges – especially around cost and supply chain efficiency.

As highlighted in recent media reports, growers may experience serious challenges with compostable stickers. Not only can they be up to twice the cost of traditional labels, their adhesives are not as strong to meet compostability standards. Even then, they still need siliconised liner. The reality is more than 50% of the overall label construction does not even end up on the actual produce. It’s a byproduct that presents numerous challenges in recycling and often still ends up in landfill due to lack of recycling options. It’s not to say industry is not trying to recycle, but anything of scale in this country is a real challenge.

Let’s be honest: the sticker is only half the issue. The liner behind it is a significant and largely an invisible environmental concern.

That’s why Natural Branding isn’t just a sustainability innovation – it’s a commercially smart alternative. It eliminates stickers, adhesives, and liner waste altogether. It removes consumables, lowers labour demands, simplifies operations, and removes unnecessary packaging. This is Packaging without Packaging built for today’s needs.

We’re not here to eliminate what’s working – stickers still have their place. In fact, we also supply self-adhesive materials and fully understand their value. But it’s time to broaden the conversation and present a proven, scalable option for those ready to make the shift.

We’ve done the work. Natural Branding has already been successfully applied to a wide range of produce – including avocados, apples, mangoes, kiwi fruit, citrus, cucumbers, tomatoes, capsicums, zucchinis, garlic, ginger, melons, and more. The benefits are clear and measurable. Consumers are responding positively.

There’s no label, no waste, no cleaning, no prepress, and significantly less labour. Fruit quality is preserved. Retailers are seeing a noticeable uplift in sales, and growers will benefit from reduced input costs, increased efficiency, and a smoother path to meeting sustainability targets. Whether for loose produce or pre packed formats, the system works. Put simply … The farmer saves money … Big money!

We have laser systems tailored to each type of produce, including thin skinned fruits. We’ve thoroughly tested and demonstrated the ability to integrate 2D code capabilities enabling POS Scanning, traceability, compliance, and marketing applications. These codes can carry essential supply chain data, product origin, best before, batch information, and more: all etched directly onto the fruit without the need for packaging.

Consumers understand it and support it. We are ready to scale.

“We see this pause as a valuable opportunity to demonstrate what else is possible,” said Michael Dossor, General Manager of Result Group. “Natural Branding is not a concept – it’s commercially ready and already delivering results. What we need now is support from government and industry to scale it further. This isn’t just about sustainability – although that’s critically important – it’s also about the future of our supply chain, reducing costs for growers, and keeping fresh produce affordable for everyday Australians.”

As South Australia, New South Wales and all states work toward a nationally aligned approach with Federal Government Support, Result Group is ready to help lead that transition – offering local, tested solutions that reduce waste, simplify packaging, and ease pressure on the supply chain.

We are calling on government, retailers and industry leaders to partner with us to scale Natural Branding across categories and regions. In a cost of living crisis, where fresh produce prices are under pressure and growers are being asked to do more with less, Natural Branding is a real, immediate solution that reduces operating costs and delivers value at every step of the chain.

This technology exists. It’s working. It’s proven.