‘Nude’ shopping: the next big trend in New Zealand

But keep your clothes on….’food in the nude’ just means the beginning of the end for plastic packaging in NZ supermarkets.

“Food in the nude” sees sales of some vegetables soar for NZ supermarket group

Following a move by a number of New Zealand supermarkets to ditch plastic packaging, sales of some vegetables have soared by up to 300% — A group of New World supermarkets have abandoned the use of plastic wrapping for virtually all of their fruit and vegetables in a project labelled ‘food in the nude‘. 

Stunning sales figures for “nude” fruit and vegetables as NZ supermarket group ditches plastic

A group of New World supermarkets have abandoned the use of plastic wrapping for virtually all of their fruit and vegetables in a project labelled ‘food in the nude’. Pioneered by the New World store at Bishopdale in Christchurch, it has led to stunning sales figures.

"We monitor them year on year and after we introduced the concept we noticed sales of spring onions, for example, had increased by 300 per cent," says Bishopdale owner Nigel Bond, in a sponsored article in the New Zealand Herald. "There may have been other factors at play but we noticed similar increases in other vegetable varieties like silver beet and radishes.

"When we first set up the new shelving our customers were blown away," he says. "It reminded me of when I was a kid going to the fruiterer with my Dad, you could smell the fresh citrus and spring onions. By wrapping products in plastic we sanitise and deprive people of this experience; it (dispensing with plastic) was a huge driver for us. 

Source: NewZealandHerald

The initiative is just part of New Zealand’s war against plastic and we can all follow suit

In New Zealand the days of single-use plastic shopping bags are numbered – most supermarkets no longer providing them at the check-out – while the government late last year agreed to regulations for a mandatory phase-out across all retailers from July 1.

Bond says eight or nine New World supermarkets in the South Island have followed Bishopdale’s example, a move which is part of a suite of sustainable practices adopted by New World owner Foodstuffs.

Bond began discussions with growers and suppliers, most of whom he says were happy to look at ways of providing produce free of plastic packaging (Foodstuffs is also continuing to work with suppliers to look at how it can be reduced across-the-board including areas other than produce).

Although many suppliers are reviewing the way produce is packaged, Bond believes manufacturers don’t always understand what consumers want: "We know, but we are like an intermediary, we sell what they give us. I think manufacturers have a much bigger part to play."

You heard it from an expert: manufactures don’t necessarily understand what you, the customer, really wants. 

If you want less plastic packaging from your favourite supermarket — tell them — and they can negotiate with the various manufacturers. Every supermarket website has a customer feedback option. Use it to tell them what you really want — less plastic!

Source: from a sponsored article in the NewZealandHerald

Below: a recent “Plastic Attack” by shoppers in the Netherlands.