Furious shoppers call out Coles and Woolworths
Coles and Woolworths have come under fire for the plastic packaging of their fruit and vegetables.
Greens member Jeremy Buckingham posted an image of to his Facebook page comparing how today’s fruit is presented to yesteryear.
“Who is else is sick of walking into supermarkets and seeing all the fruit and vegetables wrapped in plastic?” he wrote alongside the image. “C'mon Coles & Woolworths - lift your game!”
The post quickly went viral with many people agreeing that they didn’t see the point of packaging fruit and veges in plastic.
One person pointed out the plastic actually makes the vegetables sweat, ruining them.
“I'm sick of the plastic wrap. Sick of sweaty veges that have no shelf life the minute I take them out of the shops,” one woman wrote on the comments.
Many people said they refused to buy fruits and veg that is wrapped in excessive packaging, while others offered a suggestion to get the supermarkets to listen to their demands.
“After you pay for the plastic wrapped fruit and veges, unpack them at the counter and give the plastic back to the store. If enough people do this they might just get the message,” suggested Richard Smith on the post.
Last year in June, Woolworths started to package their sweet potato much to fury of customers.
"Sweet potatoes can go from your shelf to my trolley to my kitchen without ever needing to touch a plastic bag, let alone a plastic tray as well!!!" a post read at the time.
“We have managed to eat fruit and veg that didn't come in plastic packaging for 100 years. Please don't tell us that we need it now. We don't, the planet doesn't and I'm sure you could even save yourselves some Woolworth dollars!” another person commented.
Woolworths replied to the post on Facebook, claiming the plastic wrapping was “to preserve the product throughout the supply chain”.
“We make efforts to use our packaging as efficiently as possible. As such, many of our packaged produce lines are also available in loose format. When considering new recyclable packaging options, we need to ensure that it meets our existing food safety standards, product integrity requirements, and that it sustains the appropriate shelf life of our products to reduce food waste.
“We’ll continue to work with our suppliers to actively pursue packaging alternatives that reduce the amount of packaging or increasing its recyclability where possible.”