Starting from tomorrow (1 November), Sainsburys is thought to be the first major supermarket to offer crownless pineapples, which are traditional pineapples with the green leaves (the crown) removed. The crowns will be removed from standard size pineapples but large pineapples will still have their crowns left on.
Claire Hughes, director of product and innovation at Sainsbury’s said: “We’re passionate about reducing our impact on the planet wherever we can, and we’re always looking for new and unique ways to make bold changes with sustainability in mind.”
Sainsburys has acknowledged that the crownless pineapples may appear unusual. Ms Hughes said: “Our new crownless pineapples may look a little out of the ordinary, but they offer very clear benefits in reducing waste and packaging. We hope that our customers will embrace the change with the knowledge that this quirky fruit is helping us to repurpose waste within our supply chain, as well as helping to reduce waste in their homes too.”
The crownless pineapples will be available both in-store and online.
Reduction
The retailer says that the removal of the crown will help combat food waste, as traditionally, customers discard the pineapple crown after purchase. Instead, by removing the crown during the pineapple production process, Sainsburys is removing the item from the UK food waste stream.
The crowns will be removed in the country of origin and repurposed. They will either be replanted in pineapple fields or by shredded for use as animal feed, reducing waste by 700 tonnes annually.
Additionally, by eliminating the crown during production, Sainsbury’s believes it can optimise the packaging and transport of the pineapples, fitting more product into each box and thus reducing the number of boxes transported to stores by 2,500 per year.
Packaging
Sainsburys states it will also discontinue the packaging previously associated with standard-sized pineapples, further reducing the waste generated by customers at home.
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