Saveggy Plant-Based Shelf-Life Protection for Fresh Produce

Saveggy AB is a food technology company in Lund, Sweden, that takes its produce protection technology from research to industrial scale. It aims to replace the plastic wrap used on fresh vegetables such as cucumbers while reducing the produce that is lost because it dries out and loses quality between harvest and consumption.

The protection is made from only two food ingredients, fully hydrogenated rapeseed oil and gluten-free oat oil, and is tailored to each type of produce. Cucumber is the first application: protected cucumbers keep quality for 12 to 14 days after harvest, about three to four times longer than unprotected ones, matching plastic wrap. The company works with growers, packers and retailers, and EU-funded projects are extending the protection to further fresh produce.

• Two-ingredient formula: fully hydrogenated rapeseed oil and gluten-free oat oil.
• Produce-specific tailoring: the protection is adapted to each fruit or vegetable.
• Cucumber application: first commercial use, replacing plastic wrap.
• Application equipment: line equipment installed at growers in Skane with Klimatklivet support.
• Edible and plant-based: no plastic and no synthetic additives.
• Expansion R&D: EIT Food Ecocumber and EIC Accelerator CRISP projects for new produce.

• Vietnamese supermarket chains replacing plastic film on cucumbers and other vegetables.
• High-tech greenhouse growers in Lam Dong extending freshness for supply to city retailers.
• Vegetable exporters testing plant-based protection for longer transport to regional markets.

• Longer freshness: protected cucumbers keep quality for 12 to 14 days, three to four times longer than unprotected ones.
• Plastic-free: replaces single-use plastic wrap with an edible layer from two food ingredients.
• Simple labelling: made only from rapeseed oil and gluten-free oat oil.
• Retail-tested: piloted on about 250,000 cucumbers across 700 ICA stores in Sweden.

Retailers are under pressure to remove single-use plastic from fresh produce without increasing waste, and edible coatings are emerging as an alternative to shrink wrap. In Asia, where many supermarkets still wrap vegetables in film and heat accelerates moisture loss, plant-based coatings could help exporters and retailers meet sustainability targets.

Saveggy AB is based in Lund, Sweden; CEO Ola Heffler, CTO and co-founder Arash Fayyazi. Raised about 2.5 million EUR in venture capital and qualified for 2.5 million EUR from the EIC Accelerator. Selected for IVA's 100 List in 2024 and won the Grand Award of Design, Pioneer category, in 2025.