Price stickers replaced with laser marking at some Swedish grocery stores

Could the days of accidentally eating stickers off produce be over?

A Dutch organic food supplier is testing replacing price stickers on produce with a laser mark to reduce waste.

Nature & More teamed up with Swedish grocery retailer ICA to test an organic version of laser marking on the brand’s avocados and sweet potatoes, the organic producer said in a statement on its website.  In the future, the retailer plans to expand the use of laser markers to ginger, kiwi, mango and later to products like bell peppers, apples, and cucumbers, according to Nature & More spokesman Michaël Wilde.

While the laser marker may be more convenient for consumers, it’ll also mean big savings on packing costs for grocers and producers, according to the company.

The company said laser markers will eliminate at least 725,000 packaging units on avocados in 2017.

The “natural brand” is created when the laser removes a small amount of pigment from the outside of the peel.

“This contact-free method was approved by EU Organic certifier SKAL, no additional substances are used, and the method is so superficial that it has no effect on taste or shelf life,” the company said.

Stephane Merit, who works for Laser Food, the Spanish company that developed the technology, said Spain, France, and other European markets have been using laser mark on produce for years.

“One can find laser marked nectarines, apples and other produce in Europe,” he said in an email statement. "The trend shows that this is only the beginning because, among other things, Laser mark responds to a burning issue: why so much packaging on fresh produce?”

He said laser marking can help producers reduce their carbon footprints by removing paper labeling and packaging.

Merit said in certain cases the laser machines can mark several pieces of fruit per second.

"The machines that mark the fruits are meant to be installed where the fruits are prepared and packed," he said. "This is an industrial process that works at high speed and allows to mark large volumes of produce."

And producers hope green consumers will be more likely to purchase products that don’t use the paper, ink, and tape used in conventional labeling, Paul Hendriks, packaging expert at Nature & More said in a statement.

"The most sustainable way to pack is not to pack,” he said. “I have been saying that for years, but it has been difficult to bring about in the supermarket. With Natural Branding it becomes a logical option. We are very glad that ICA, as a front-runner, is taking this sustainable road with us.”