Food & Produce Packaging
Harvest doesn’t reschedule. When the crop comes off, the bins are either in the shed or they’re a problem, and every grower has a story about the season a supplier let them down.
CMTP builds fruit bins, potato bins, bulk-bins, produce crates and food-grade pallets for growers, packing sheds, wholesalers and exporters. Manufacturing sites in regional growing country, Mildura among them, plus Tasmania and Adelaide, mean your packaging is made near the paddock it’s headed for, not freighted across the country during your busiest week.
Food packaging suppliers who started out making bins for growers
CMTP began in a workshop in Colac, Victoria in 1976, building potato and onion bins for growers down the road. Fifty years on it is still family owned and still run by the family that started it. Around 250 people across eleven manufacturing sites in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania now make produce bins and fresh produce packaging for growers, packing sheds, wholesalers and exporters.
Being one of the few food packaging suppliers who actually manufacture matters most in the fortnight before harvest. We make what you order on our own equipment, at the site closest to your shed, so the freight leg is short and the delivery date holds when everyone in the district wants bins at once. Sites at Mildura, in Tasmania and in Adelaide put production in growing country rather than in a warehouse three states away.
The range comes from the one place: fruit bins, potato bins, apple bins and vegetable bins, bulk bins for the packing line, produce crates, cartons and food safe pallets. Design and engineering sits in house, so we measure the product, design the bin around it and prototype before a production run. CMTP is also the only pallet supplier in Australia with HACCP International certification, which is what puts HACCP certified pallets under food that has to pass an audit.
What goes wrong with produce packaging
Fruit ripens on its own schedule. A bin order that slips a fortnight isn’t an inconvenience, it’s crop sitting in the sun or pickers stood down. Harvest is the one time of year when a supplier running late costs you real money by the day
The wrong bin quietly eats your margin. Too deep and the bottom layer carries the weight of everything above it. Rough interiors mark soft fruit. Bad stacking sends load through the produce instead of the bin. None of it shows up until grading, when it’s too late.
Fresh produce is the worst cargo in the world to have stuck in quarantine. If the timber packaging isn’t ISPM 15 compliant and stamped, your shipment can sit at the destination port while its shelf life runs out, and there’s no fixing that after the fact.
How CMTP solves them
With manufacturing sites in regional produce country and eleven across Australia, bins are built close to where they’re filled. Growers and packers set up scheduled pre-season supply so volumes are agreed before the crush, and every order carries a confirmed delivery date, tracked against our 95 per cent DIFOT target.
A potato bin and an apple bin are not the same job. Our design and engineering team builds bins to suit the crop: the right depth to limit compression, clean interiors, stacking strength that carries the load through the bin rather than the produce, and a prototype to approve before the production run.
Export bins, crates and pallets are ISPM 15 compliant and individually stamped, heat treated (minimum 56 degrees for 30 minutes) rather than chemically fumigated, which matters when the cargo is food. Kiln-dried timber keeps moisture out of the equation on the water.
CMTP builds timber produce bins for Australian growers
Products built for the food and produce industry
Bulk bins
flat-pack composite bins that work as transport and storage in one
Wooden cases, crates and produce bins
custom fruit bins, potato bins and vegetable bins built to the crop
FoodXP pallets
HACCP International certified through the Pal-giene process
Plastic pallets
hygienic and washable where cleanliness standards demand it
ISPM 15 certified export pallets
for produce and food heading offshore
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ISO 9001 Certified - Colac -
ISO 9001 Certified - Dandenong
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ISPM 15 Certified -
HACCP Certified
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Related Services
Logistics & Delivery
pre-season scheduled supply, delivered against a 95 per cent DIFOT target
Design & Engineering
bins and crates designed around the crop, prototyped before production
Contract Packaging
our teams pack at your shed or facility when harvest needs extra hands
Australia-wide Service
With teams across 11 manufacturing facilities across Australia, we’re able to reach your location quickly and provide the service you need on time.
Victoria
Colac – Head Office
Derrimut
Dandenong South
Mildura
Queensland
Clontarf
Brendale
South Australia
Adelaide
Partner Alliances
Perth
Darwin
Tasmania
Branxholm
Scottsdale
Frequently Asked Questions
What produce bins do you make?
We make timber fruit bins, apple bins, potato bins, onion bins and vegetable bins, in standard sizes or built to suit your crop and handling equipment. Produce bins are where CMTP started: in 1976, Chris and Marilyn Meade began building potato and onion bins in a Colac workshop, and we’ve been making them ever since.
Should I choose timber or plastic produce bins?
Both have a place. Plastic bins suit operations that need regular washdown, but they usually cost more upfront, come in fixed moulded sizes and can become brittle with age and sun exposure. Timber bins are built to your crop and equipment, made from renewable Australian plantation timber, and typically last 15 to 20 years. For most growers, timber gives the better return over the life of the bin.
How long do timber produce bins last?
A well-built timber produce bin typically gives 15 to 20 years of service. Our nailing system is designed to keep bins strong and rigid through season after season of picking, forklift handling and cool storage. Spread over that working life, a quality bin costs very little per harvest.
Can you build bins to suit our crop and equipment?
Yes. Tell us what you grow, how much each bin needs to hold, and how your bins are handled, including forklift entry, stacking height and cool store layout. We’ll build bins that fit your operation, whether you need a standard size or something made to measure.
How do I reduce bruising in produce bins?
Start with the bin. Shallower bins put less weight on the bottom layer, smooth dressed interiors stop surface marking, and a strong stacking structure carries the load through the bin instead of through the produce. If bruising shows up at grading, check the bin design first. It’s often the cause and the easiest fix.
Are timber produce bins food safe?
Yes, when they’re built for the job. Kiln-dried timber keeps moisture and mould under control, and clean, smooth interiors protect the produce. If your operation works to a specific food safety or audit standard, tell us which one and we’ll make sure the bins match it.
Can produce bins be made export compliant?
Yes. Our export produce bins are ISPM 15 compliant and individually stamped during manufacture. Treatment uses heat, reaching at least 56°C for 30 minutes, rather than chemical fumigation, so there’s nothing in the timber that’s a concern near fresh produce.
What happens if produce bins hold up a shipment at the border?
For fresh produce, a quarantine delay at the destination port can eat up shelf life before the crop ever reaches market. Non-compliant timber bins can be held, treated or destroyed, and the produce often goes with them. That’s why we build export bins ISPM 15 compliant and stamped from the start.
When should we order bins for harvest?
Before the season starts, not during it. A bin order that arrives a fortnight late can leave crop exposed and pickers standing idle. Our regular growers lock in scheduled supply ahead of harvest, so bins arrive before the crop does, and every quote comes with a confirmed delivery date.
Do timber produce bins work in cool stores?
Yes. Timber bins are built to handle cool store conditions, from cold temperatures and humidity to being stacked high and moved in and out by forklift all season. Our bins are designed to stay strong and rigid through repeated cool store cycles, so produce stays protected from harvest right through to packing.