Shoppers shun plastic and opt for loose fruit and veg

SHOPPERS are shunning plastic-wrapped fruit and veg and buying more loose produce, figures show.

Supermarket sales of unpackaged fresh produce are growing at twice the rate of those in plastic, data firm Kantar said.

It is the latest sign consumers back moves to reduce plastic waste, which the Daily Mail has long campaigned for with its Turn the Tide on Plastic drive.

It comes as 528,285 people volunteered to join Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean – backed by the Daily Mail – which runs until April 23.

More than a fifth of all fruit, vegetables and salads sold over the past 12 weeks were bought loose, according to Kantar. Fraser McKevitt, the company’s head of retail research, said: ‘Consumers are applying pressure on retailers when it comes to packaging and making their feelings known in the fruit and vegetable aisles.’

Sales of loose fruit, veg and salads grew by 6 per cent in the 12 weeks to March 24, Kantar said. Sales of packaged produce rose 3 per cent over the same period.

Richard Hyman, an independent retail analyst, said: ‘These numbers underline just how big a topic packaging has become. Some issues attract a lot of publicity but fail to gain traction and change the public’s behaviour.

‘The subject of packaging, and particularly plastic, is clearly moving the dial and shoppers are voting with their spending.’ Research by Mintel recently found half of all adults say plastic pollution is a top environmental concern for them, with a similar proportion saying they supported shops going plastic-free. It comes as paper bags for fruit and vegetables are returning to major supermarkets.

Tesco said it would try them in selected stores, pledging to sell 45 types of fruit and veg loose instead of packaged. It followed a similar decision by Morrisons last year.

The country’s biggest supermarkets were among a string of businesses to sign a ‘plastics pact’ with the charity Wrap last year. It commits them to making all plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

Helen Bird, of Wrap, said: ‘Citizens have clearly been inspired to do their bit when it comes to tackling plastic waste and are looking for practical ways, such as buying fresh produce loose, to reduce the amount of plastic packaging they bring home.’

You can still sign up for the Great British Spring Clean at gbspringclean.org.