Marks & Spencer breaks mould with packaging for 'longer-living' fruit

Supermarket vows age-defying fruit thanks to new packaging that will also help cut food waste

Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer's new packaging will initially only be used for strawberries. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Next week M&S will become the first major retailer to roll out ground-breaking new packaging which it claims will extend the life of fruit stored in the fridge by up to two days, helping to cut domestic food waste.

The supermarket will add a small plaster-style strip at the bottom of punnets of strawberries, containing a patented mixture of clay and other minerals that absorb ethylene – the ripening hormone which causes fruit to ripen and then turn mouldy. The strip measures 8cm x 4.5cm and does not affect the recyclability of the packaging, and the retailer claims there is no extra cost to the consumer of the packaging. If successful, it will be added to all the supermarkets' berries.

Trials carried out in M&S stores showed a minimum wastage saving of 4% – during the peak strawberry season this would equate to 40,000 packs, or about 800,000 strawberries. M&S says it is committed to reducing waste as part of its Plan A programme to be the world's most sustainable retailer.

Hugh Mowat, M&S Agronomist, said: "This new technology is a win-win for our customers – not only will their strawberries taste better for longer, but we really hope it will help them to reduce their food waste as they no longer need to worry about eating their strawberries as soon as they buy them."

The British strawberry season starts in April, so at this time of year M&S strawberries are currently imported from Egypt, Morocco, Spain and Israel. During the British season M&S sells about 1m punnets per week.

Rival supermarket Asda, which trialled similar packaging for Spanish strawberries, abandoned a national launch on cost grounds. A spokeswoman for Asda said: "We didn't roll this out as our research didn't show a benefit in terms of longer life when looking at the additional cost per punnet."

Josh Brooks, editor of trade journal Packaging News said: "This new launch from M&S is a great example of how innovative packaging helps to preserve and protect the food products it contains. The crucial role of packaging in delivering products to consumers and reducing food waste through the supply chain and in stores and homes cannot be overstated."

The packaging of fruit has become a controversial issue. Retailers have faced strong criticism for excessive and unnecessary packaging, but insist that fruit has to be protected with plastic layers as shoppers do not want to buy bruised and damaged items.


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Comments

64 comments, displaying oldest first

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  • galadrielsmirror2

    6 January 2012 1:30PM

    I find the main problem with imported fruit is that it is unripe and never will ripen properly, resulting in unfulfilling eating experience.

  • djhworld

    6 January 2012 1:48PM

    Cool but surely these sort of thing will come at a slightly higher cost to the customer?

  • MightyWhite99

    6 January 2012 1:49PM

    Sorry but I think this is totally obtuse logic, especially from M&S which has a good track record on sustainable business. Surely the answer to this problem is to move towards less packaging of any sort and to discourage people from buying masses of fruit & veg long in advance of when they actually need it?

  • dancelikeagoat

    6 January 2012 2:00PM

    I'm surprised that the word "taste" hasn't been mentioned anywhere in all of this. Crop breeding has been geared to producing fruit that looks wonderful for as long as possible, but this has generally been at the expense of what it actually tastes like. Years ago when doing some work in Kenya I would buy the most manky fruit and vegetables imaginable from local market stalls, but the taste of them was fantastic. Artiifically tampering with the natural ripening process isn't going to help the flavour of what you eat one bit.

  • Darkblade

    6 January 2012 2:01PM

    Someone has to be out of pocket, surely, if they aren't passing the additional cost on to the consumer? (There must *be* an additional cost, unless Asda was imagining it.)

    I can't imagine a punnet of strawberries lasting longer than a day in my fridge in any case - far too tempting!

  • skybluesquirrel

    6 January 2012 2:13PM

    M&S which has a good track record on sustainable business

    Really? I remember a report a couple of years ago on supermakets and pesticides that found M&S fruit and veg contained the highest levels of all in the study (and the residue of cleaning products was higher too).

    M&S like to portray themselves as green. Like any multiple store, the reality is far removed from the spin they set out. So now, lets add even more chemicals to the process. Great. Has it been tested? Reports independently verified? Probably not, as its not adding directly to the food so my guess is that it slips through the net.

  • Haileselassie

    6 January 2012 2:21PM

    some of the best fruit and veg i've ever had comes from the birmingham market on a saturday afternoon. Its usually bruised, woebegone and wrapped in sodden paper bags, but also inexpensive and deliciously over-ripe. Nowadays I avoid shiny, plasticy supermarket fruit as much as possible

  • florist

    6 January 2012 2:28PM

    Please lets first of all buy just what you need and don't get in a trap of a supermarket: buy two and get one for free. Just support your local green grocer or market and buy loose fruit and veg! No packaging needed exept your own recycled bag.

  • Azarel

    6 January 2012 2:31PM

    So this is to absorb all the ethylene they've previously blasted it with to artificially ripen the fruit, the side effect of which is quickly decaying produce?

    Give me seasonal fruit any day of the week (or rather at one particular time of the year). Tastes better, lasts longer, costs less, and you get to look forward to its season coming round again the following year after having stuffed your face stupid and cooked it in twenty different ways to the point where you're sick of it.

  • OrigamiPenguin

    6 January 2012 2:50PM

    M&S says it is committed to [being] the world's most sustainable retailer.

    ... and ...

    at this time of year M&S strawberries are currently imported from Egypt, Morocco, Spain and Israel.


    This isn't just bullshit. This is M&S bullshit.

  • Astratilius

    6 January 2012 3:09PM

    Does anyone actually keep fruit in the fridge? What on earth for, unless you are buying tons of the stuff. Surely it can only stand any chance of ripening at room temp'? And it extends the 'life' by 2 days! Big deal. Methinks it's a ploy to 'add value' thereby increasing cost.

  • kitchenmagpie

    6 January 2012 3:25PM

    With regards to cost, the consumers aren't the only ones to suffer from fruit and vegetables ripening faster than preferred. By using this strip the supermarket will be able to reduce their own wastage, which will have a financial impact on their operating costs. Add into that a degree of enhanced customer loyalty then their is a further increase in profits to offset the cost of implementing this measure. Once the technology is market proven there will also be revenue derived from patent licensing as well.

    I would expect that M&S will have released this with a very clear view to increase overall profits and market share.

  • BobHughes

    6 January 2012 3:29PM

    I would be more impressed if they could resolve the avocado problem. When you buy them they are rock hard but go over as soon as you turn your back on them.

  • QueenofWonderland

    6 January 2012 3:49PM

    Presumably this packaging would allow marks and spencer to have 2 extra days to sell the fruit. reduceing not just the consumers waste but also the shops as well. this doesn't have mean the consumer would have an extra 2 days to eat the fruit.

  • footienut

    6 January 2012 4:11PM

    The fact that there is a publication called 'Packaging News' has just made the world seem like a slightly more boring place.

  • BernieMaupin

    6 January 2012 5:17PM

    My sister works at a small M&S in north London and they regularly throw out up to £15,000 worth of food per week, straight in the garbage. This past xmas eve new management wanted to close the store early, thus not allowing staff to buy unsold food at reduced prices, so what ever was left on the shelves at closing time went straight in the bin.

    I tell you what Marks ain't what it used to be. Or perhaps it is ?

  • eastofhampstead

    6 January 2012 5:29PM

    If the consumer believes a product has a long shelf-life isn't it more likely it will be purchased and stored, thus increasing the likelihood of wastage?

    Food with a short-life (e.g soft fruit, bakery bread) tends to be kept visible and likely to be eaten.
    Long-life foods (especially spuds) can get shoved in the larder or fridge and emerge, far less edible, weeks later.

  • maidstonemike

    6 January 2012 5:34PM

    The problem is shoppers want out of season fruit, out of season in this country that is. Tomatos are inedible at this time of year, hard, unripe, and tasteless.
    Bananas have long been a sore point with me. Why sell tham at all? They are a tropical fruit, they do not like being chilled and gassed. You buy what looks like a reasonable banana, the next day, when it warms up indoors, it goes brown and rotten, tastes disgusting, like metal, and goes in the bin.
    The only fruits that travel well if fresh are citrus.
    As for plums as hard as bullets, don't go there!

  • fruitandveg

    6 January 2012 5:50PM

    Most green plants produce ethylene quite naturally, without human intervention. It is a plant hormone associated with senescence and fruit ripening. A build up of the ethylene concentration in the atmosphere around fruit hastens the ripening process. Under field conditions the breeze disperses the ethylene and lessens its influence, but when packed in close proximity, such as in punnets, the build up of ethylene dramatically hastens ripening. All the 'plaster' in the punnet does is absorb the ethylene and thus slow down the ripening. There is nothing 'sinister' or harmful, and certainly no need for hysteria!

  • crunchycat

    6 January 2012 5:51PM

    This packaging has been in common use in the US for some time, and I'm surprised that this isn't already used in the UK. The pre-packed stuff is more expensive, but we can buy packs of bags in various sizes that are made of the same ethylene-absorbing plastic, at very modest cost. So, you buy your produce, store it in the bag refrigerated or not, and the stuff lasts about five times longer. It's very practical for lettuce, broccoli, asparagus- stuff that often rots before you can use it up. The bags are reusable and last a long time. Produce is so expensive in the UK- I was astonished at the cost, on my last trip to Scotland 4 years ago- I would think that these bags would be welcomed by lots of people.

  • StephenMcBurney

    6 January 2012 5:51PM

    I have worked at a small M&S food store for around 3 or 4 months and their attitude towards throwing food out is shocking. The vast majority of it is not offered to the staff at a reduced rate, and is thrown straight out. Beside the canteen door there is a list of former staff members that have been fired for taking perfectly good food out of the food waste bin, in order to take home and eat. Often there are literally hundreds of potatoes thrown out at a time. Today there was around 200 bananas chucked out, for the simple reason that a few of them in each case had split open. To top it all of there is a homeless big issue seller that is stationed outside the main entrance to the store. A few weeks ago, a small independent business that made their own iced coffee gave the manager of the store two crates of their stock for free, in the hope that the store would sell it. The manager proceeded to go straight out the back and chuck it in the bin because it didn't have a "traceability number'". The store also has a policy of pouring blue ink over all the food waste to ensure no-one proceeds to take the food out of the bin once it leaves the store. I have also heard stories of homeless people proceeding to try and eat the ink soaked food regardless. M&S do not care about wasting food in the slightest, and this new packaging is nothing but a publicity stunt.

  • GB243

    6 January 2012 6:11PM

    To those who argue for less packaging you could always have the old soviet system of almost none. The result was I believe (still desperately searching for figures) over 50% wastage. What did make it to the shops was bashed up and to western tastes fit only for the bin.

    Reduce packaging where possible. Choose materials carefully but the cost and environmental impact of throwing away food because it was allowed to get damaged or spoilt in transit is criminal.

  • StigOhara

    6 January 2012 6:14PM

    As many have mentioned already, I too would like to see a return to seasonal fruit and veg so that we can buy naturally fresh goods without the need for all these "long-life shenanigans. It may be a bummer that you can't get strawberries in the middle of December, but I think it's fairly low on the list of life's privations. Maybe supermarkets could take their eyes off their profits for a split second and lead the way in convenient, sustainable groceries... yes?

  • MaryL

    6 January 2012 6:19PM

    I have worked at a small M&S food store for around 3 or 4 months and their attitude towards throwing food out is shocking. The vast majority of it is not offered to the staff at a reduced rate, and is thrown straight out. Beside the canteen door there is a list of former staff members that have been fired for taking perfectly good food out of the food waste bin, in order to take home and eat

    Restaurants also do this. In practice taking food might be tolerated, as it should be when you think how badly kitchen staff are paid, but if you want to sack someone you just have to search their bags as they leave.

    A few weeks ago, a small independent business that made their own iced coffee gave the manager of the store two crates of their stock for free, in the hope that the store would sell it. The manager proceeded to go straight out the back and chuck it in the bin because it didn't have a "traceability number'".

    That doesn't sound so unreasonable, though, for a branch of a large chain. Head office probably wouldn't be delighted to hear that a manager was stocking something they had no control over.

  • mytoastisburning

    6 January 2012 6:59PM

    MaryL

    That doesn't sound so unreasonable, though, for a branch of a large chain. Head office probably wouldn't be delighted to hear that a manager was stocking something they had no control over.

    So why take it then? Why not just say 'sorry, we can't sell it'?

  • muscleguy

    6 January 2012 7:38PM

    I agree that much fruit sold in supermarkets in the UK is unripe. We gave up buying fresh pineapples years ago after having the lining of our mouths removed by the acid. We both grew up in New Zealand and know what fresh fruit tastes like. I hardly ever buy apricots (which I absolutely love) for anything other than stewing any more, tiny, hard, sour things which should be larger, riper and delicious. Last decent apricot I had was from a stall on the waterfront in Geneva. The Europeans can do it so can we.

    BTW if you want to ripen something, like a hard kiwifruit, stick it in a sealed bag with an apple. Apples release large quantities of ethylene and it was from them that the effect was discovered.

    Also the use of ethylene to ripen fruit is not necessarily evil, done right. Vis how NZ apples can arrive on supermarket shelves here after sea voyages (they are not air freighted) perfectly ripe and crisp while the same varieties from UK producers, in season are soft and floury (yuck). I tend to buy apples seasonally, when NZ ones come in and not otherwise for this reason.

  • franiefroufrou

    6 January 2012 7:45PM

    I'm intrigued by the people that say they work for M&S and witness food being thrown away. This shouldn't be happening. What used to be a great perk for staff (being able to buy food going out of date at 75% of cost) is sorely missed by the staff in my store. Food going out of date that day gets price reduced with a big yellow sticker and sold to customers. If it hasn't sold in the last hour of trading it then gets reduced again to 10p or 50p (no matter what the original price was!). We have customers coming in every night to fill their freezer. Virtually nothing gets left for staff now, what little remains goes into a recycling bin in the fridges and is picked up and sorted. Nothing goes to waste or gets thrown away. I thought this had already been rolled out to all stores, perhaps you're one of the stragglers? Nobody's perfect but M&S are doing a damn site more to change things that most.

  • amyzed

    6 January 2012 10:36PM

    As a former m and s employee (and in no way biased cause I hated the place) all food waste is recycled so none of it gets thrown away any more. I think a portion goes to make energy or something?

    But if there's no price hike, and with he money they'll theoretically save with less waste, there's no reason to suggest there will be, everyone's a winner. Longer lasting imported so really not that 'green' strawberrys all round!

  • TVwriter

    6 January 2012 10:39PM

    Palestinian karma. Mouse on the kneecap for your idiots for whom a click equates to a shared understanding? Interesting imagery, can't wait for the pilot.

    I've no idea what you mean, but I love the way you say it.

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