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Tesco's Laser-Etched Avocados to Save on Packaging Waste - Core77

https://www.core77.com/posts/132477/Tescos-Laser-Etched-Avocados-to-Save-on-Packaging-Waste

"Laser avocado" sounds like a Doritos flavor, but it's actually a packaging technique being trialed by Tesco. In a bid to reduce packaging waste, the UK supermarket chain is laser-etching avocados rather than using barcode stickers. And for their avocado products that come in twin packs, they're ditching the plastic

Tesco's Laser-Etched Avocados to Save on Packaging Waste - Core77

I'm sharing this because any reduction in unnecessary packaging waste is good for the planet - and because I think laser-etching avocados is funny. 🙂

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ngons

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But they are already avocados, packaging or etching is completely avoidable…

mipadaitu

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But how are you supposed to know it's an avocado if it's not laser etched??????????????? /s

spittingimage

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Agreed, but since they're not avoiding packaging or etching, etching is better.

Personally, I'd rather see them etched wit guacamole recipes.

BakerBagel

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But what's the point if etching them in the first place? They etch cabbage or ears of corn. It just seems overkill for no reason

TDCN

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Many people forget that a store can have two types of avocados priced differently that then needs to be distinguished from one another at the checkout. It could for example be organic Vs conventional. Or for apples there are many different types that can all look the same. I find this type of tech pretty cool. I would love to see variations of it. Maybe editable wax ink or something like that

mercator_rejection

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Around here we just have little stickers on the produce with a code number on it. Most produce is just stacked with no packaging. You collect as many as you want in a bag. At the check out, the little code number can be used tell what the exact variety is.

This seems a lot simpler than lazer etching to me, but idk, maybe that is really cheap and easy too?

TDCN

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It's also about the fear of people just moving stickers around. I personally think it's probably only a very small amount of people who would actually do that so the cost of preventing that is not worth it.

I can inform you that laser edging is much cheaper and way faster than stickers. Lasers are cheap and you don't have any consumables you need to keep buying like stickers.

usernamesAreTricky

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Stickers don't break down, however. They're super annoying for composting stuff because you have to remove every single one

brb

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You slap the sticker on the bag yourself where I'm from

KoboldCoterie

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Seriously, I feel like this could all have been replaced by a paper sign...

mox

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Some markets that use signs also use a dot or two from a colored pen on the differently priced avocados (organic, large, etc.) to distinguish them at checkout.

knobbysideup

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How do you scan them at checkout? Yes you could do manual entry/lookup. That could be said about everything though.

SpeakinTelnet

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4770, most cashiers knows that code by heart

setsneedtofeed

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This thread seems to be populated by competent people. I would like everyone to step back for a moment however and consider how many incompetent people exist.

Think about self-serve checkouts, and how despite items being clearly labeled and the machines having item lookups, people still struggle constantly. Now imagine how many more people would struggle without the label.

Think about the employee wrangling the self checkout dealing with increased frustrated customers. Think about how fickle customers can be, throwing up their hands at a minor obstacle and deciding to just buy avocados from now on from the store across the street that still uses stickers. You know these people exist. You know they exist in number. So do markets, so the laser etching is mitigating the problems they'll have from removing stickers.

SpeakinTelnet

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I get where you're coming from but I'll just say most fruits and vegetables already don't have any stickers on them here (Canada) and people have been surviving fine. The only time I see a sticker is when it's bundled in a pack.

If someone struggle that much he usually goes to a cashier instead of the self-checkout.