Sustainable Packaging Innovation Lab

All research activities must be structured to answer, directly or indirectly, at least two of the following questions before, during, and after the development and dissemination of research and development or commercialization outputs:

• How does the activity advance the goals of maintaining or increasing U.S. exports of specialty crops?
• How does the activity enable U.S. exporters to comply with emerging regulatory requirements (see Footnote 1) for packaging and labeling?
• How does the activity support the development of packaging materials that are alternatives to single-use plastic packaging?
• How does the activity support the development of reusable packaging systems for the export of specialty crops?
• How does the activity support the export of specialty crops that will be sold at retail without packaging?
• How does the activity reduce food loss and waste of exported fresh produce?
• How does the activity promote the implementation of novel sustainable packaging at a commercial scale for exports of specialty crops?

Clemson University and FFP welcome applications from institutions of higher education, non-profit and for-profit organizations, government-affiliated researchers, and domestic and international organizations. Applications from international entities are invited as long as there is a clearly described collaboration with US-based researchers, packaging companies or exporters of specialty crops.

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support.

Funding will be provided for up to twenty (20) awards of between $50,000 and $250,000 each. The performance period for awards will be 12 months. In addition to funding, awardees will gain access to collaboration and networking opportunities, fresh produce industry and consumer insights, LCA analyses and legal reviews of emergent packaging regulations.

No matching funds are required.

All proposals must be submitted by the deadline date through FFAR’s online application Grant Management System. Applications submitted outside of this System will not be considered. To start a new Sustainable Packaging Innovation Lab application, visit the Grants Management System. If you are a new user, register for an account by clicking “Create Account” button located under the email address field on the left side of the home page.

Once you log in, you may begin working on your application. Please be sure to save your work often by clicking on “Save and Finish Later.” To access a saved application, please do so through your Grant Management Account.

Only submissions received by the deadline through FFAR’s Grant Management System will be accepted and considered eligible for evaluation. To be fair to all applicants, FFAR will not grant extensions to applicants who missed the deadlines posted in the Key Dates section.

Only applications submitted by the deadline through FFAR’s Grant Management System will be accepted and considered eligible for evaluation. To be fair to all our applicants, FFAR will not grant extensions to applicants who missed the deadlines posted in the Key Dates section.

For questions related to the online submission system, please contact FFAR’s Grants Management team at grants@foundationfar.org.

For questions related to the Sustainable Packaging Innovative Lab, please contact FFAR’s Scientific Program Director, Constance Gewa at cgewa@foundationfar.org.

FFAR strives to respond to inquiries within two business days, but our response time depends on the volume of questions received and the complexity of the questions asked. Please note that we do not monitor mailboxes on evenings, weekends, or federal holidays.