Food in the nude – NZ ditching plastic packaging of fruit and vegetables in supermarkets

The NZ Herald reports that sales of some vegetables have soared by up to 300 percent after a number of New Zealand supermarkets ditched plastic packaging. A group of supermarkets have abandoned the use of plastic wrapping for virtually all of their fruit and vegetables in a project labelled ‘food in the nude’. Nigel Bond owner of one of the stores says their new shelving system reminded him of when he was a kid going to the fruiterer with his Dad and one could smell the fresh citrus and spring onions. He says by wrapping products in plastic we sanitise them and deprive people of this experience. “When you take on these projects they can be a disaster and lead to customer pushback but in my 30 years in the supermarket industry this simple change has resulted in the most positive feedback from customers I have ever received.” The initiative is part of the war against plastic. In New Zealand the days of single-use plastic shopping bags are numbered – most supermarkets are no longer providing them at the check-out – while the government late last year agreed to regulations for a mandatory phase-out across all retailers from July […]

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