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posted by n1 on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the avocado-toast dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Tuesday June 20 2017, @05:15AM (2 children)

    by Magic Oddball (3847) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @05:15AM (#528340) Journal

    There are small barcodes on some of the produce at the stores I use, but they don't seem to work with the stores' scanners — instead they enter the four-digit number printed on the sticker into the register.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:27PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:27PM (#528454)

    I worked at Aldi for a while between other jobs. Some produce in packets has a barcode, but you are still expected to memorize about a hundred 1, 2 or 3 digit codes to key in. Years later, bananas are 18, avocados are 10, 11 or 12 depending on type. Pink lady apples are 2, jazz apples are 3. forgot the rest.
    The bastards at head office would regularly change them anyway, and the manager would give you a new A4 sheet covered in 6 point font each week to memorize.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 20 2017, @02:46PM (#528462)

      They standardized the numbers here. Most if not all grocery stores use the same ones. Bannanas are 4011, Green grapes are 4022. etc