Circular Economy
The most sustainable fish crate in the world
The Deutsche See reusable fish crate saves up to 640 tons of polystyrene waste every year, is transported to and from its customers three million times every year and has a lifecycle of over ten years thanks to its lightness and stability. It is a quality-assuring logistics tool and an aesthetic brand ambassador in one.
With the market launch of the transport crate in 2008, fish manufacturer Deutsche See established the world’s most sustainable fish transportation system. While to the present day the fish industry still uses crates made of materials like disposable styrofoam, the company was an early adopter of a pioneering and environmentally friendly, reusable system with this new design. Ten years later, the multi-patented fish crates have already been in circulation more than three million times a year.
Gentle, safe and fast
We looked at the natural habitat of fish as the perfect role model to design the highly functional transport crate – like a cut out piece of ocean. All people have to do is take it out. We developed the perfect design from this idealized image: A container with a “flowing” inner shape that carries the fish inside like a wavy piece of ocean and transports it more gently, safely, and quickly than ever before. It is also a natural brand showroom for freshly caught fish.
Superior organic wave shape
The organic wave shape proves to be far superior to the classic rectangular shape. The flowing design enables ergonomic handling, hygienic ice storage thanks to the backwater drainage in the new meltwater cascade system, safe transportation on different conveyor belts thanks to the profiled corrugated base, and a direct view of the goods thanks to the “wave eyes”. The new rotating stacking system with a very large stacking depth also ensures space-saving and, therefore, energy-saving transportation of returning crates back to the company, which is further simplified by the high stability and lightness of the fish crate.
Sustainable reuse-system
The universally usable transport crate runs through the entire reusable system for around ten years in Deutsche See’s logistic, significantly reducing the amount of material used. As the crates can be stacked in in two different ways, on average five trucks loaded with fresh fish only need one to transport the empty crates back to the distribution center. The crates are provided to customers and suppliers on a deposit basis.
In 2010, the Deutsche See Frischfisch-Mehrwegkiste was awarded the German Sustainability Prize (1st place) for the first time for its innovative and exemplary integration of the concept of sustainability along the entire supply chain.
