March 4, 2011

Del Monte goes bananas

Del Monte has officially gone bananas backwards by introducing individually-wrapped bananas — as if nature hadn’t already done the job. The bags, apparently containing a “Controlled Ripening Technology”, are supposed to extend the shelf life by up to six days.

James Harvey, Del Monte’s UK managing director, told the Fresh Produce Journal: “Del Monte’s new CRT packaging is designed to provide significant carbon footprint savings by reducing the frequency of deliveries and the amount of waste going to landfill. The packaging is also recyclable.” — Mail Online

Uhhh-huh. Funny, I wasn’t aware of this landfill burden that biodegradable bananas are causing. Hmm, wouldn’t it be cheaper and simpler to just buy what you need, solving both the “frequency of deliveries” and “amount of waste” problem and saving the money lost on wasted food and the cost of dealing with the plastic (landfill or otherwise) and avoiding this higher-priced packaged banana? Or, you know, storing your bananas properly and composting? Clearly Del Monte is out to make extra money under the guise of “food waste reduction” in a day and age when people are starting to be critical of excess packaging. (Notice Harvey said recyclable and not biodegradable?) Since when is the banana peel itself not good enough?

As my colleague said, if your bananas are getting too ripe, make some banana bread.

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