Food retailers aiming to cut plastic
packaging by ditching stickers on fruits and vegetables, instead using hi-tech
‘natural branding’ (Laser Marking / laser engraving Machine)
The humble fruit
sticker may seem an unlikely cause for environmental concern but removing it
from produce could create huge savings in plastic, energy and CO2 emissions.
In response to
consumer demand for less packaging, Dutch fruit and veg supplier Nature &
More and Swedish supermarket ICA have joined forces to run a trial to replace
sticky labels on organic avocados and sweet potatoes with a laser mark.
M&S are also
using it on coconuts in the UK.
Dubbed “natural
branding”, the technique uses a strong light to remove pigment from the skin of
produce. The mark is invisible once skin is removed and doesn’t affect shelf
life or eating quality.
“By using natural
branding on all the organic avocados we would sell in one year we will save
200km (135 miles) of plastic 30cm wide. It’s small but I think it adds up,”
says Peter Hagg, ICA business unit manager.
The laser
technology also creates less than 1% of the carbon emissions needed to produce
a sticker of similar size.
Stephane Merit,
business development manager of the Spanish company behind the technology,
Laser Food, says with millions of stickers used on food produce around the
world everyday, the technology could make a “significant reduction in the amount
of paper, ink, glue” being used as well as the cutting the energy used to
produce and transport them.
Ethical shoppers
The sustainability
saving is particularly important for organic shoppers, who now account for
almost a fifth of all ICA’s fruit and veg sales, says Hagg. “Organic sales are
driven by environmental awareness, like climate change and belief in health
benefits. Younger shoppers also choose products depending on the environmental
impact of the packaging. And we know that this will be very important in coming
years,” he says.
Switching from
plastic to cardboard is a bonus, but selling organic produce as loose is even
better says Hagg. Yet under EU rules all items need to be marked hence the need
for stickers if selling loose.
“This is a solution that permanently marks the
skin of the product, so it’s better from a sustainability perspective, but also
avoids the problem of stickers falling off.”
Laser Food’s
technology has been around for several years but has previously been used for
marketing or branding, without being explicitly linked to sustainability.
“Up to now, no one
has used this technique with the specific aim of cutting packaging. It was used
for novelty – which is nice, but a gimmick at Easter or Christmas isn’t going
to pay off,” says Michaël Wilde, sustainability and communications manager at
Nature & More. “What we are saying is, by buying this product you’re saving
plastic.”
The cost of a
laser machine is considerable, but after that initial investment, Wilde says it
is almost more cost-effective than stickers. “You have to invest in an
extremely expensive machine, so it’s very much an investment for the future.
This is something we believe more and more supermarkets will take on. It saves
resources, CO2 and energy, so it does calculate.”
HAN'S LASER CORP.
2220 O'Toole Ave,San Jose, CA 95131
Phone: (+1) 408-774-9428
Fax: (+1) 669-900-4570
Email: laser@hanslaser.com
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