With plenty of buzz surrounding its award-winning Zip-Pop bag, Schur Star Systems is attending the United Fresh Convention & Expo looking to build partnerships in additional produce categories.

Recently winning the 2019 CPMA Packaging Innovation Award, Schur Star’s inventive new bag was originally developed in partnership with Potandon Produce. Featuring Potandon’s mini potatoes, the bag simplifies cooking with no need to season or stop midway through heating to punch holes in the bag.

“This revolutionary bag allows consumers to cook quickly and easily for the entire family,” said Hans Schur, chief executive officer  of Schur Star Systems Inc. “The potatoes and butter pat seasoning are stored separately in a dual chamber bag. The steam strip in the bag along with the specially formulated material provides extended shelf life and is at the same time the feature that makes the bag unlike anything else on the market.”

The market has received the new Zip-Pop bag positively, said Tracy E. Gilmore, director of business development responded. “It has really taken off. It took us years to develop this product and the response has been overwhelming. We’re pursuing opportunities globally.”

The advent of the Zip-Pop bag has made preparing fresh potatoes so accessible to consumers that other categories are looking to get in on the action. “We’re working with Brussels sprouts, asparagus and corn,” said Gilmore.

Just as they did with potatoes, Schur Star is taking the time to do it right. “We like to partner with individual companies to produce a bag that’s right for them,” said Gilmore. “There are so many factors to consider, including the seasonal water content of the produce that it’s really important to make sure we get it right. It’s really a team effort, not a one-size-fits-all thing. Each new produce category we enter is really a customer-driven partnership focused on the best possible consumer experience.”