marks & spencer has introduced a new &lsquorevolutionary&rsquo packaging that it claims will lengthen the life of fruit kept in the fridge by about two days and will obviously result in reducing the food waste. the supermarket will include a tiny plasterstyle stripe, named &lsquoit&rsquos fresh&rsquo on it, at the base of strawberries of punnets, carrying a patented blend of clay and such minerals that soak up ethylene. it is the ripening hormone that causes fruit to ripen and then turn mouldy. &lsquono more cost&rsquo the strip, which measures 8cm x 4.5cm and doesn&rsquot influence the recyclability of the packaging, and the retailer asserts there is no further cost to the consumer of the packaging. if victorious, it will be included to all its berries. trials which were carried out in m&s stores indicated a minimum wastage saving of 4 &ndash in the peak strawberry season this would compare to around 40,000 packs, around 800,000 strawberries. on 6th january, guardian first published the story about m&s&rsquo new packaging innovation. speaking to the guardian, josh brooks, who is the packaging news&rsquo editor, mentioned that this new introduction from m&s is a good example of how inventive packaging helps to protect and preserve the food products it contains. the critical role of packaging in offering products to customers and minimizing food waste throughout the supply chain and in stores as well as homes cannot be overstated. &lsquoseason of strawberry&rsquo the british strawberry period starts in april, so currently m&s strawberries are imported from israel egypt, spain, and morocco. in the british season, m&s provides about one million punnets each week and the retailer expects that the new packaging will surely result in reducing food waste hugely in this period. &lsquoreduce food waste&rsquo hugh mowat, who is m&s agronomist, mentioned that this innovative technology is a winwin for their customers. due to this technology, along with their strawberries tasting better for a longer period of time, they really hope that it will be also useful for reducing their food waste as they no longer require worrying about having their strawberries as soon as they purchase them. the patented stripe is being produced and supplied to m&s by &lsquoit&rsquos fresh&rsquo which is a british high tech innovations firm. m&s mentioned that it&rsquos fresh had provided the technology to other uk retailers as well for transit packaging. nevertheless, this is the first time that this technology is being used in packaging for consumer products. source of information httpwww.packagingnews.co.uknewsmsdevelopsrevolutionarypacktohelpreducefoodw…
