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Morrisons to roll out plastic-free fruit and veg areas in its stores
Morrisons will become the first British supermarket to roll out plastic-free fruit and veg areas in its stores, following a successful 10-month trial period.
The supermarket is giving customers the option to choose from 127 varieties of fruits and vegetables - including carrots, potatoes, onions, apples, pears and figs - and either put them in paper carrier bags or take them home loose.
This new initiative will be rolled out in 60 Morrisons stores throughout 2019, and then eventually introduced as part of the supermarket’s ongoing store refurbishment programme nationwide.
The 10-month trial in three Morrisons stores saw the amount of loose fruit and veg bought by customers increase by an average of 40 per cent. Morrisons expects the move to save an estimated of three tonnes of plastic a week – or 156 tonnes a year.
'Many of our customers would like the option of buying their fruit and veg loose. So we’re creating an area of our green grocery with no plastic where they can pick as much or as little as they like. We’re going back to using traditional green grocery and we hope customers appreciate the choice,' Drew Kirk, Fruit and Veg Director at Morrisons said.
The move is a direct response to customers who have told Morrisons that reducing plastic is their number one environmental concern.
Upon entering the supermarket, customers will see the wooden crates of plastic-free produce for them to place straight into their baskets or paper bags. There will also be a neighbouring aisle where customers can still purchase fruits and vegetables in plastic packaging, if they want to. The hope is that it will encourage all shoppers to think globally and act locally, one weekly shop at a time.
Other UK supermarkets are also doing their part for the environment. For example, Asda has committed to removing 6,500 tonnes of plastic (10 per cent) from its own-brand packaging within a year, and pledges to make all of its own-brand packaging 100 per cent recyclable by 2025.
Elsewhere, Lidl have introduced 'too good too waste' boxes, to help cut down on the amount of food wasted each year. Sainsbury's are also doing their part by trialing a 'pre-cycle' area in stores for customers to recycle plastic packaging before they head home. They have pledged to cut an additional 100 tonnes of unnecessary waste over the next year.
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