Sainsbury’s introduce crownless pineapples in bid to reduce waste
This week Sainsbury’s will introduce crownless pineapples in its latest move to reduce waste, making it the only big four grocer to currently offer them.
Crownless pineapples, which are the same as a traditional pineapple just with the green leaves (the crown) removed, will be available to buy at Sainsbury’s from Wednesday 1st November. The new product will be available in-store and online, and will be ready to eat upon purchase, with no need for customers to ripen the fruit at home.
The crown of a pineapple is typically thrown away by customers at home, so by removing it for recycling during the production process, Sainsbury’s is helping customers to cut down on food-related waste.
The removed crowns will either be replanted in the pineapple fields or shredded and given to local farmers to be used for animal feed, reducing waste by 700 tonnes annually.
By removing the crown during production, Sainsbury’s can fit more of the product into each box it ships to stores, resulting in a reduction of 2,500 boxes transported per year.
Sainsbury’s is also removing all packaging previously attached to the standard size pineapple, further reducing the waste customers would usually throw away at home.
The retailer will continue to sell a large pineapple, which will remain with its leaves attached, to offer customers choice.
Claire Hughes, Director of Product and Innovation, 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. 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 change comes as Sainsbury’s continues to innovate and offer new solutions to tackle food waste across its business and in customers’ homes. Just last month, Sainsbury’s announced that it is switching from use-by to best-before dates across its own-brand milk range, a change that will apply to over 730 million pints of milk sold by Sainsbury’s every year.
*On average between 25%-50% of the crowns removed will be suitable for replanting in the pineapple fields. Any unsuitable crowns (too small or damaged) will be shredded and given to local farmers to be used as animal feed.
