A tale of three quarts

Strawberries are sold in all sorts of different containers. For years the quart has been the standard size, and we've been picking into white cardboard quarts for decades. We decided to investigate what other quart boxes are available.

The photo shows three popular quarts: green plastic, white cardboard, and green fibre.
White Cardboard: It's sturdy, looks good, 100% recyclable, made in Ontario from Ontario trees. The major drawback: PRICE! At 19¢ each they are the most expensive.
Green Fibre: Not as strong, as the cardboard, but also recyclable and locally sourced. Less expensive too, 14¢ each.
Green Plastic: Strong, water proof, and cheap at 15¢ each. The type 5 plastic is non-recyclable in Halton. The thin bars also dig into the soft berry flesh. Some are made locally, but they also come from, you guessed it, China.


Size Matters
A quart is a quart right? In the photo the green plastic quart easily slips into the white cardboard quart. Surely this is impossible if they are both quarts! When filled level to the top, this is what they hold:
Green Plastic: 850 mls
White Cardboard: 1000 mls
That's a 150 ml difference! How come the plastic "quart" is 15% smaller? Turns out, the plastic quart has an optional raised lid, and the volume under the lid is the missing 15%. Yikes!
From a grower's point of view that's great, your profit has jumped 15%. From the informed consumer's point of view, "Hey, that's a rip off!"

What do you think? Vote on our poll!