OSY Group has entered into a partnership with Multisteps that will see its antimicrobial coating applied to packaging for fresh fruits and vegetables in Australia. The agreement, which runs until November 2030, mirrors similar deals in the UK, EU, South Africa and Namibia.
The company’s coating creates microscopic pins on packaging surfaces designed to puncture and kill microbes, slowing the natural spoiling process. OSY Group says the technology complies with international food contact material regulations and does not migrate from packaging into produce.
Multisteps is a family-owned packaging manufacturer operating across fresh produce, meat and seafood, bakery and ready-meal sectors. The collaboration will initially focus on rPET punnets used in the fresh produce market.
Marc Braterman, chief executive of OSY Group, said the Multisteps partnership builds on the company’s existing agreements in the UK, EU and southern Africa. He said it expands the technology’s application across packaging types and geographies, and supports its strategy of working with packaging manufacturers to develop “solutions that extend shelf-life, reduce food waste and provide a point of differentiation in the highly-competitive food packaging market”.
He added that commercial adoption followed years of testing and validation across a range of product types.
Multisteps plans to explore further use of the coating in Asia-Pacific markets during 2026, and both companies intend to collaborate in China and explore opportunities in the US. Sam Lam, managing director of Multisteps, said the RPET punnet is a longstanding format for fresh produce and the partnership would allow it to introduce the “next evolution” of the punnet while maintaining recyclability and performance credentials.
