UK-based food and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer have been working to improve the environmetal sustainability of the company for over a decade. In their latest step to become more eco-friendly, they're getting rid of the little stickers on their fresh produce. As of this week, their avocados will have relevant information (product code, county of origin, best-before date) etched into the skin by a laser.
M&S expect to save 10 tones of paper and 5 tonnes of glue a year by tattooing their avocados in this way. Stickers don't stick well to avocado skins in the first place, so this solves a practical problem as well as reducing sticker waste.
Apparently barcodes couldn't be read reliably on an avocado, due to the uneven reflective surface of the avocado skin, but it may be practical for other produce in the future.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday June 20 2017, @03:42AM
Used to be the bar codes did not get applied to anything you would eat whole like apples. Now that barcode sticker is made from food grade rice paper and digestible glues and ink. It is officially food.
These are put on at the fruit distribution centers, not at the stores. So it seems to me there would be little in the way of savings to the store.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.