FACTORS AFFECTING PACKAGING OF PERISHABLE PRODUCTS IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF HARVEST FLOWER LIMITED

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the factors affecting the packaging of perishable products, to establish and determine if competition, cost, technology transportation and government policy affects the packaging of perishable products. The main beneficiary of the study will be the management of Harvest flower limited and other manufacturing industries and organizations. The study adopted descriptive research design where sample size of 100 employees was selected from the target population of 1000 employees which was 10% of the target population derived using stratified Radom sampling, Questionnaires were administered to respondents by the researcher. Data was collected and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively which provide an appropriate analysis. From the findings, 96% indicated that costs of packaging affects the packaging of perishable products in Kenya, while 4% of the respondents said it does not affect. 88% of the respondents indicated that government policies affect the packaging of perishable products in Kenya while 12% disagreed that government policies don’t affect. 95% indicated that competition affects the packaging of perishable products in Kenya while 5% of the respondents said it does not affect. 92% of the total respondents said transportation affects packaging of perishable products in Kenya, while 8% of the respondents said it does not affect. The researcher recommended that the management of Harvest flower ltd must change their strategies more often for the organization to remain competitive in the modern market. Also the management need to be innovative so as to bring out the best packaging that will meet modern market needs as well minimizing production costs. Government policies should be observed when dealing with packaging.