Tesco Tests Food Strips that Increase Produce Freshness and Reduce Waste

February 16, 2012

Tesco is testing new produce packaging that will reportedly extend the shelf life of produce, specifically tomatoes and avocados for the trial, which tally some the highest wastage in the industry.

The packaging, developed in the U.K. by It’s Fresh Ltd., contains a strip coated with a natural product that absorbs ethylene, the hormone that causes fruit to ripen and then turn moldy. Initial trials were successful suggesting the device could be used across a wide range of fruit and vegetables. There will be no added cost to shoppers.

“The packaging is a major breakthrough in the fight to combat food waste and could save the fresh produce industry tens of millions of pounds each year,” said Steve Deeble, Tesco’s ambient salad and avocado technologist. “But it will also mean that shoppers will be able to keep fruit and vegetables for longer without feeling pressured to eat them within days of buying them. We have already trialed the packaging in a storage environment and all the signs are there that this could be one of the most significant developments in packaging for many years so now we want to know what our customers think of it.”

The ethylene-absorbing strip, which is inside the packaging, measures 8 centimeters by 4.5 centimeters and will not affect recyclability. Tesco estimates the new packaging could save 1.6 million packs of tomatoes and 350,000 packs of avocados.

“If the trials prove to be a success then we could start rolling out the packaging by Easter,” Deeble said.

Keywords: produce packaging

Comments (1) - Post a Comment

i like tesco and would like help sell more things

rosemaire at 6:31pm EDT - March 11, 2012

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