phs Teacrate is working with a farm in the midlands supplying over 35,000 crates for its seasonal harvest.

The 5,000-acre organic farm spends around four months every year harvesting its broccoli, cauliflowers and sweetheart cabbage ready to supply retailers, farmer’s shops and box schemes, both locally and across the UK.

The farm’s team use phs Teacrate’s FC4 food tray – a lightweight and durable crate – to pick and stack their fresh produce during harvest, ready for washing and distribution to customers. The 35 litre crates are nestable when not in use, reducing the storage space required, and fully compatible with supermarket bale arm trays.

Once the crates are no longer needed, phs Teacrate collect them to be hygienically washed ready for their next use across all other market sectors.

As one of the UK’s largest crate rental and washing businesses, Teacrate’s biggest environmental driver is reducing plastic waste and single-use plastic.

It aims to prolong the life of its plastic crates to minimise its impact on landfill and create a circular economy.

Its crates are made of the toughest plastic, ensuring that they can withstand heavy use every day, giving them a longer life and diverting waste from landfill.

If crates do become damaged, Teacrate always look to repair rather than replace them. If they cannot be repaired, they are sent to be recycled rather than to landfill. The crates are chipped into plastic chips for reuse, ensuring Teacrate’s plastic is never single use.

The farm manager said: “We have been very impressed by phs Teacrate. The service they offered us was very competitive and they have been a great partner during this year’s harvest.

“Crates are delivered on time and as required, which is crucial during a fast-paced harvest. Our produce needs to be picked and delivered to the customer as quickly and efficiently as possible to ensure they get the fresh, high quality produce they expect. We need a reliable and reactive supplier to ensure everything runs smoothly, and phs Teacrate offer an excellent service to us.”