Sugar, cellulose and vegetable oils
The competitor Rewe will follow suit these days – with avocadostreated with a similar system. The coating consists of natural sugar, cellulose and vegetable oils and comes from the British manufacturer AgriCoat NatureSeal, It should also be edible and well tolerated. The fruit would be sold in up to 860 Rewe and Penny stores this week, the company announced. “We sincerely hope that our customers can help us in our fight against Food waste with their purchase decision “, emphasized the Rewe manager Eugenio Guidoccio.
According to a recent study by the Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forests and Fisheries (Thünen Institute), over 12 million tons land annually Food in the trash. The majority of the waste – 7 million tons – is generated in private households. Each German citizen throws an average of around 85 kilograms Food a year away, the scientists estimate.
And efforts to avoid plastic have only exacerbated the problem. According to the Food newspaper For example, the absence of plastic films for cucumbers has resulted in significantly more Spanish ones in the fall cucumbers had to be destroyed because they had not survived the long journey unscathed. “cucumbers for the bin, “headlined the journal.
Sheath Tüftelei
So far, the new coating processes in Germany only at fruits used, whose shell is not consumed. But in the long run it could coating also become common with other products. The US company Apeel, with which Edeka cooperated, has developed recipes for 30 different types of fruit and vegetables, including strawberries, tomatoes, apples and peppers. It prepares loudly Edeka already submit an application for approval to the European Commission.
The Edeka dealer Paschmann can well imagine that the new technology will also be used in the future fruits enforced, the shell of which one also measures. “How often does it happen today that you buy strawberries, eat a few of them and then throw away half the next day because they are rotten? That would no longer be the case.”
For the retailer, however, it is also clear that some persuasion will still be necessary. Under no circumstances should the new method be used secretly or imposed on the customer, he emphasizes. But hope Paschmannthat the benefits ultimately convince consumers. He believes that this could lead to “less at all levels Food waste takes place “.
Also Armin Valet of the Consumer advice center Hamburg basically welcomes the advance of supermarket chains. But this could only be an element in the fight against the Food waste, Here the trade has to turn a lot of screws. “There is still too much thrown away. Retail is in demand – with everything that is possible, not just with one method,” says the food expert.
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