Fruit Trays and Alveoli: The Definitive Guide

If you work in a packhouse, a growers' cooperative or a fresh produce handling facility, you already know that the difference between a consignment arriving spotless and one arriving with 8 % waste is rarely down to the fruit itself. It is down to how the fruit sits inside the box. The tray is the unremarkable component nobody notices on the shelf, yet it decides whether the peach picked in Fraga on Tuesday reaches Hamburg on Friday with its skin intact or with a bruise that sends it straight to the reject line.

Fontanet Group has supplied packaging and handling solutions to the agri-food sector for 14 years from Fraga, in the heart of the Ebro valley stone fruit region, with a team of professionals who bring more than 30 years in the sector. Between us we have seen the tray evolve from solid board to the arrival of PET, the return of moulded cellulose and now the pressure of European regulation. This guide gathers what customers ask us every single season: which material to choose, which calibre to order, how many cavities fit in a box and how to avoid getting it wrong.

What are fruit trays?

A fruit tray is a thermoformed or moulded tray with individual cavities, each dimensioned to hold a single piece of fruit or vegetable. Its role is not decorative but structural. Every cavity immobilises the piece, stops it rubbing against its neighbours and spreads transport impacts across the whole tray instead of concentrating them on one point of the skin.

Three further functions are often overlooked. The first is ventilation: the ribs and channels between cavities let air through, which is critical for fruit that keeps respiring after harvest and which, without circulation, generates condensation and ripens faster. The second is presentation: an alveolated box reads as selected produce, and that influences the price the retailer will accept. The third is operational traceability, because a 30-cavity tray guarantees the box holds 30 pieces without anyone having to count them.

Market context explains why the format is so entrenched. Spain is the European Union's largest exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables, consistently shipping over 13 million tonnes a year, and virtually all of that fresh-market production passes through some individual separation system before it goes on the lorry. The tray is, quite simply, the format the European supply chain takes for granted.

Types of fruit tray by material

There are three families in the professional market, and choosing between them is not a matter of taste but of destination, fruit and end-customer requirement. Moulded cellulose, polypropylene and recycled PET each solve a different problem.

Cellulose trays: 100 % recyclable and biodegradable

These are produced by moulding cellulose pulp, a process that starts from recovered paper fibre and water with no plastic additives. The result is a rigid tray with a matt finish and natural colour that is both recyclable in the paper stream and compostable.

Its least known and most valuable technical virtue is absorption. The fibre holds surface moisture — in the order of 3 % of its own weight — which prevents a film of water forming at the contact point between fruit and tray, exactly where fungal problems start. For fruit coming out of cold storage into a temperature swing, that capacity is what separates cellulose from any impermeable material.

• Thermal resistance: −20 °C to +80 °C, compatible with cold storage and blast chilling.
• Weight: 15 g to 45 g per tray depending on format and grammage.
• Colours: natural (brown), white and other shades to order.
• Certification: available with FSC certification, and compliant with Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 on food contact.
• Best for: apple, pear, peach, nectarine, kiwi and tomato.

It is the natural choice when the destination is export to northern European retailers or when the customer specification demands plastic-free packaging. Full details are on our cellulose tray data sheet.

PP plastic trays (polypropylene)

Thermoformed polypropylene is the workhorse of high-volume lines. It is a tough material: it flexes without cracking, withstands repeated washing and disinfection cycles and does not deform with humidity. Where cellulose softens after several uses, PP stays intact.

That resistance makes it the obvious choice for returnable circuits, where the tray comes back to the packhouse and is reused season after season, and for fruit that releases juice — a split plum, a very ripe peach — because the surface does not absorb and rinses clean.

• Thermal resistance: −10 °C to +120 °C.
• Weight: 10 g to 30 g per tray.
• Typical thickness: 0.3 mm to 0.6 mm.
• Colours: clear, white, black, blue, red, yellow and green.
• Recyclability: plastics stream, recycling code 5 (PP).
• Best for: high-juice fruit, tropical fruit and leafy vegetables.

R-PET plastic trays (recycled PET)

R-PET starts from post-consumer recycled PET — typically between 70 % and 100 % recycled content — and delivers something no other material on this list can match: glass-like clarity. The piece is fully visible, with no haze or shadow, and on a premium fruit shelf that translates directly into a purchase decision.

It is also very rigid for its weight, which allows thinner gauges without losing stacking stability, and it is recyclable again within the same PET stream, closing the loop. Its limit is thermal: above +60 °C it starts to lose geometry, so it is not a material for heat processes.

• Thermal resistance: −20 °C to +60 °C.
• Weight: 8 g to 25 g per tray.
• Typical thickness: 0.25 mm to 0.50 mm.
• Best for: premium fruit, supermarket display and gourmet lines.

See also our range of plastic trays and type 3 trays.

Full comparison: cellulose vs PP vs R-PET

Sizes and formats available

The calibre is the diameter of the cavity, and it has to match the actual diameter of the fruit. This is where most mistakes happen. An oversized cavity leaves the fruit loose, and a piece rattling in its hole takes every knock of the journey: the tray stops protecting and becomes a mere separator. An undersized cavity forces the piece in, marks the skin at the rim and often stops the box closing properly. The usable margin is only a few millimetres wide, which is why it pays to grade the crop before placing the order rather than assuming last season's calibre.

Trays for 60x40 cm boxes

This is the European standard format, the one that fits a 120x80 pallet without wasting surface and the one that standard sector boxes assume by default. If you export, this is almost certainly your format.

• Common configurations: 4x5 (20 cavities), 5x6 (30), 6x8 (48) and 8x10 (80).
• Most common sizes: 40 mm to 90 mm diameter.
• Cavity depth: 25 mm to 55 mm depending on the fruit.

Trays for 50x30 cm boxes

The half-box format, easier to handle and widely used in domestic markets, wholesale markets and the HORECA channel, where orders are more fragmented and the box is handled by hand many more times.

• Common configurations: 3x4 (12 cavities), 4x5 (20) and 5x6 (30).
• Most common sizes: 35 mm to 80 mm diameter.

Size chart by fruit type

Trays by fruit type

Every species presents a different problem. Some need absorption, others ventilation, others cavity depth. These are the ones customers ask us about most.

Trays for peach and flat peach

This is the flagship application in the Ebro valley and probably the largest consumer of trays in Spain. Peach skin is velvety and extraordinarily sensitive: sustained pressure over just a few hours leaves a mark that darkens days later, already at destination, when a claim is unavoidable. Individual separation is not optional here.

We recommend calibres of 60 to 80 mm and configurations of 20 to 30 cavities in a 60x40 box. Cellulose usually wins thanks to its ability to absorb juice from any piece that arrives damaged, stopping the problem spreading across the tray. The flat peach, given its squat shape, needs a wider and shallower cavity: calibres of 55 to 70 mm with a flat seat.

Trays for apple and pear

Apple is, globally, the fruit that consumes the most trays, not because it is fragile but because of volume and the length of its journeys: these are consignments that spend months in controlled atmosphere and then travel far. The skin resists a single impact but marks under continuous rubbing, so what has to be eliminated is movement inside the box.

Calibres of 65 to 85 mm and 20 to 28 cavities in 60x40. Cellulose performs very well for export here, while R-PET wins when the apple is destined for a premium shelf and the fruit needs to be seen. Pear demands more care around the neck: a slightly deeper cavity and calibres of 55 to 75 mm keep the stalk from pressing on its neighbour.

Trays for nectarine and plum

The nectarine, lacking the down that protects the peach, has a smooth skin that shows any defect starkly. It also transpires heavily, so ventilation between cavities is decisive: without air circulation, condensation forms on the underside of the fruit and with it the seed of decay. Calibres of 55 to 75 mm.

Plum plays in a different size league: calibres of 40 to 55 mm and dense trays of 30 to 48 cavities. Being small and prone to rolling, cavity fit matters even more, and PP usually prevails thanks to its tolerance of juice from riper pieces.

Trays for tomato and vegetables

Tomato is a special case because it keeps ripening actively in the box and releases ethylene. It needs protection, certainly, but above all it needs air to circulate; a tray that is too enclosed accelerates ripening across the whole batch and shortens shelf life exactly when it matters most. We therefore look for designs with generous ventilation channels.

Calibres of 50 to 80 mm depending on variety — vine, plum, salad — with 20 to 30 cavities in 60x40. Among vegetables, peppers and some courgette varieties for premium shelves also use trays, generally in PP for moisture resistance. You can see the whole range in packaging and consumables.

Trays for kiwi and tropical fruit

Kiwi is elongated and rests on its side, which calls for oval rather than circular cavities; calibres of 45 to 65 mm with 28 to 36 cavities. Cellulose fits well because it absorbs the moisture the skin releases.

Mango, avocado and pomegranate share one trait: large calibre and high weight per piece, which demands deep cavities and trays with reinforced ribbing so they do not collapse when stacked. Mango from 75 to 100 mm with only 12 to 16 cavities per box; pomegranate from 70 to 90 mm. Here PP and R-PET provide the rigidity the weight demands.

Benefits of professional fruit trays

How to choose the right tray for your product

In practice, getting it right means following an order. These six steps resolve most of the cases that reach us:

1. Identify the product. Species and variety, because a firm-fleshed peach does not behave like a melting-flesh one.
2. Measure the real calibre of your crop. With a gauge, on a sample from the current season, not from the variety data sheet.
3. Fix the box format. 60x40 cm if you export; 50x30 cm for domestic and HORECA.
4. Choose the material. Cellulose for export and plastic-free specifications, PP for reuse and high volume, R-PET for premium display.
5. Define the cavity count. From the net weight you want per box and the calibre you measured.
6. Check with a technician. A physical sample before confirming the order avoids a whole season with the wrong tray.

Sustainable trays: the future of fresh produce packaging

European packaging and packaging waste regulation is rewriting the rules of the sector. The direction is unmistakable: less virgin plastic, more recycled content and packaging designed from the outset to be recyclable. For a packhouse this has stopped being a question of image and become a condition of access to the customer.

FSC-certified cellulose trays are today the most complete answer: zero plastic, fibre from responsibly managed forests, recyclable in the paper stream and compostable. R-PET tackles the problem from the other end, giving post-consumer PET an outlet and returning it to the same cycle instead of downgrading it to lesser uses.

The pressure no longer comes from the legislator alone. Major European retail chains have written packaging sustainability criteria into their supplier specifications, and in many cases the tray material has become an entry requirement rather than a commercial argument. Anticipating that shift costs less than reacting to it halfway through a season.

Fontanet Group offers FSC certification across our cellulose range and supports the material transition when a customer needs to switch without losing line performance.

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Frequently asked questions about fruit trays

Why choose Fontanet Group as your tray supplier

We have spent 14 years working with packhouses, cooperatives and handling facilities from Fraga, in Huesca, with professionals who add up to more than 30 years in the sector. That location is not just a contact detail: we are inside the growing region, which means we understand the seasons from the inside and our lead times to the area are short.

• Full range in cellulose, PP and R-PET, in every common calibre and format.
• Genuine technical advice: we look at your fruit, your box and your line before recommending.
• Physical samples before you confirm the order, so you can validate calibre fit.
• Permanent stock of the most demanded formats of the season.
• FSC certification available across the cellulose range.
• Export throughout Europe and service to mainland Spain, the Balearics and the Canaries.
• After-sales service and ongoing technical support.
• Customers across Aragon, Catalonia, Murcia, Valencia, Andalusia and Extremadura.

You can read more about us or browse the rest of our packaging solutions and packing machinery.