Tesco is trialling laser-etched barcodes on avocados to replace traditional stickers as it looks to reduce its waste.
The grocery giant will use high-powered lasers to remove a tiny section of the skin on its extra large avocados and will etch size information onto the fruit in just a third of a second.
Avocado supplier Westfalia Fruit said the thick outer skin of avocados makes them suitable for new labelling system and assured the quality and shelf life of the fruits would not be affected by the laser.
If the move is rolled out, the supermarket could remove nearly one million plastic stickers from its loose extra-large avocados.
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Tesco, which sells nearly 70m avocados annually, is also testing the replacement of plastic tray packaging with recyclable cardboard containers for two of its most popular avocado lines in 270 of its stores in south-east England.
It said that if the initiative is expanded to all its stores following a successful trial, it could save over 20 million pieces of plastic tray packaging from just the twin pack avocados and up to 25 million pieces across its entire pre-packed range.
Tesco avocado buyer Lisa Gilbey said: “We’re always looking for innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of our products and cut down on plastic waste in the home through changes to our packaging.”
She added: “We’re really excited to hear customer feedback on our new laser-etched avocados, avoiding the need for a barcode sticker that can easily be forgotten and left on when recycling through household food waste.”
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