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Aldi shoppers have spotted a change the discount supermarket chain has this week made to two popular fruit items.
Aldi has changed the way it is selling pineapples and bananas in a bid to help the environment and reduce plastic and food waste, in a move shoppers will have noticed.
Firstly, Aldi is trialling the sale of ‘crownless pineapples’ in a move aimed at cutting wasted food. The supermarket says the fruit’s crown is often thrown away, so is now pre-removing the leaves before putting pineapples on store shelves.
Secondly, Aldi is changing the way it sells bananas. It has removed the plastic wrapping from all of its bananas and instead opting to use a paper band to hold banana bunches together.
If successful, the change would help to remove an estimated 234 tonnes of plastic packaging per year, Aldi said, as the move is part of another packaging change trial.
Aldi is also introducing thinner bags for its onions, which will save 13 tonnes of plastic annually. It is also replacing the current non-recyclable packaging on its Specially Selected West Country and Yorkshire block butter with a paper-based alternative wrap which can be recycled at home, helping to remove more than 10 tonnes of non-recyclable packaging from circulation each year.
Aldi said: “With the crown of the pineapple often being thrown away by shoppers, the UK’s fourth largest supermarket will be removing the green leaves from its pineapples during the production process for recycling instead.
“The removed crowns will either be used to cultivate next year’s crop or converted into animal feed, reducing food waste by an estimated 1,400 tonnes annually if the change is rolled out across stores.
“The crownless pineapples are now available in select stores in the Midlands, Yorkshire and North East. By removing the crowns, Aldi will also be able to fit more of the product into boxes to be transported to stores, meaning a potential reduction of around 187 tonnes of cardboard annually if the trial is successful.”
Liz Fox, National Sustainability Director at Aldi, said: “At Aldi, we are committed to finding sustainable solutions that benefit both our customers and the environment.
“This trial of crownless pineapples is just one of the latest innovative changes we’re testing out to minimise waste and reduce our carbon footprint.”
Luke Emery, Plastics and Packaging Director at Aldi, added : “At Aldi, we know how important reducing plastic is to our customers, colleagues and the future of the planet.
“We are constantly reviewing ways we can do this, and our latest trial on bananas is another great step on that journey.”
