A supermarket executive responsible for some of Luxembourg’s most popular individually wrapped fruits and vegetables has struck again, this time with another genius idea that takes plastic packaging to a new level.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he said at a marketing meeting on Thursday morning. “We’re going to take strawberries, and we’re going to put them in plastic pouches, and we’re going to sell them individually.”
The suggestion was followed by a long silence, during which the executive feared his idea was too bold, but it was soon met with applause and cheers.
Michel Fortini, a packaging enthusiast from Esch and author of “My Love Affair with Plastic Wrap,” describes the plan as “brilliant” considering Luxembourg consumers’ unpredictable habits concerning fresh produce.
“Sometimes you want a basket of 58 strawberries because you’re baking a pie, and sometimes you only want one lonely strawberry because a drunk teenager on the bus called you fat and you’re retaliating by starving yourself,” he said.
Fortini also says that today’s busy shoppers don’t have time to weigh fresh produce and put a sticker on it, a process that can take up to nine seconds.
“Shoppers would rather spend their time in the fruit and vegetable section doing things they truly enjoy, such as sniffing melons, squeezing avocados, or using long stalks of celery to sword fight with passing children,” he said.
If individually wrapped strawberries prove to be a success, some Luxembourg supermarket chains say they will begin to offer items such as a lone vacuum-sealed spinach leaf, single grapes that come in their own limited-edition collector’s box, and a delicious grain of Celtic Sea salt encased in a styrofoam chest.
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Originally published by RTL Today on March 21, 2019