The pool operated as a non-profit association. Anyone handling fruit
and vegetables was entitled to become a member. A new member
signed an agreement to follow the Kisten-Pool rules, purchase
containers and pay for each purchased container to the Kisten-Pool.
The members then used as many of the containers in the system as they
wanted. The packaging company supplied containers, and the
purchaser was obliged to inform the Kisten-Pool about all purchases of
new containers. Members could choose to exchange containers on a
one-for-one basis or to pay a deposit per container.
The impact on various wholesalers has been somewhat different. By
the early 1990s, 30 per cent of Konsum’s handling of fruit and
vegetables was in reusable containers. BILLA, a major distributor and
supermarket chain, switched entirely to the reusable containers. Even
imported goods were repacked in the reusable containers.
LGV, one of Austria’s biggest distributors of vegetables and fruit, in
parallel with the reusable containers handled seven types of disposable
boxes. Depending on the customer’s wishes, peppers (paprika), for
instance, were packed in eight different types of containers! This was,
of course, an untenable situation for LGV. It took six to eight people to
repack vegetables in order to deliver them to the customer in the
desired packaging. Simplification and standardization were necessary
in such a situation.