Tesco has developed a resealable salad bag as a response to recent research that found that salad-leaf products are among the most wasted food SKUs on supermarket shelves.
The packet, which is opened and closed with a sliding zip-lock, is made of a thinner film than normal, which Tesco hopes will make the product less likely to suffer damage in people’s refrigerators.
The company’s research shows that when people purchase bags of salad leaves, they often do not do so with a particular meal in mind, which increases the chance of waste; that ordinary bags do not possess the fortitude to protect leaves sufficiently, allowing in-fridge spillage because they cannot seal; and that its clientele wants to avoid air accessing the leaves.
Product Development
Tesco's produce-buyer manager, Adam Hill, said, “Over the last two years, we’ve been working with our growers to develop new packaging, which allows customers to return to their bags of salad over a number of days with very little hassle or fuss.”
“We know many shoppers roll up their bagged salads after using them once and stick them at the back of their fridges, where they are forgotten for days, or even weeks,” Hill added. “These new bags are made from stronger material to protect the leaves from getting scrunched up, thus preventing them from going to waste.”
Food Waste
The Waste & Resources Action Programme commended Tesco for its packaging innovation. The non-profit body’s programmes director, Steve Creed, said, “[The step will] help in the fight to reduce household food waste. At present, nearly 40% of lettuce and leafy salads bought by householders end up being thrown away in the home.”
The pricing for the resealable SKUs stands at £1.50 for a 240-gram bag of baby-leaf spinach, the same price for a 140-gram bag of mixed baby-leaf salad leaves, and £1 for a 260-gram bag of lettuce.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
