Marks & Spencer to launch plastic-free produce aisles and introduce greengrocers

Greengrocers will be on-hand to offer customers tips on how to pick and weigh their products

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Marks & Spencer is launching more than 90 lines of loose fruit and vegetables free of plastic packages in a trial which will welcome trained greengrocers in store to help customers.

Shoppers at the retailer’s branch in Tolworth, south-west London, will be able to choose from two aisles of fresh produce.

The range includes hard fruit and vegetables, such as potatoes and bananas, as well as perishable products like fruits and berries, which will be sole in compostable containers.

In addition, greengrocers will be on-hand to offer customers tips on how to pick and weigh their products.

They will also share advice on how best to preserve fresh produce and reduce food waste at home. M&S has even removed its “best before” date labels as part of the initiative.

Louise Nicholls, head of food sustainability at M&S, said: "Our trial at Tolworth is an important milestone in our plastic reduction journey and bringing back the traditional greengrocer will play a key part in educating our customers.

"Our plan is to create long-term impact in the future using tangible insights from the Tolworth store trial."

The retailer said it has also committed to launching additional lines of loose produce, swapping plastic produce bags with paper alternatives.

It has also phased out plastic barcode stickers in favour of eco-friendly alternatives in every one of its UK stores in a bid to save 580 tonnes of waste over two years.

What’s more, it has bid “farewell” to 75 million pieces of plastic cutlery available in its stores each year and replaced two million straws with paper alternatives as part of its plastics plan, which aims to remove 1,000 tonnes of plastic packaging by spring 2019.

In January 2018, Marks & Spencer withdrew a packet of sliced cauliflower – then dubbed “cauliflower steak” - from sale after it was criticised by consumers for its “excessive” plastic packaging and inflated price.

The “steak” was sold for twice the price of a whole, single cauliflower at £2.

Last year, Morrisons announced it was bringing back the brown paper bag for loose fruit and vegetables, which it said would prevent 150 million small plastic bags from being used every year.

It also said it would allow customers to use their own containers for meat and fish, rewarding them with 100 loyalty points when they do so.

Iceland also launched a paper bag trial to see whether customers were willing to pay 10p for a paper bag as an alternative to single-use plastic bags.