Shoppers’ fury at ‘organic’ coconut on sale in shrink-wrap
A SUPERMARKET has come under fire for selling “organic” coconuts wrapped in plastic packaging.
A photograph posted on Twitter showed the item, which comes with a cardboard stand for better presentation, plastic ring-pull and straw, on sale in Sainsbury’s. The “Genuine Coconut” costs £3 – but nonpackaged coconuts retail at 80p.
The image has been re-tweeted more than 50 times with the hashtag #Environmentalvandalism.
User Alex Morss posted the image with the comment: “100% unnecessary #plastic packaging on a coconut. How do you get away with calling this ‘organic’ @sainsburys?!” In a further post she added: “Your store endorses this by selling it, and so encourages customers to make unsustainable choices. Your sustainability plan claims you want to reduce waste. Coconuts last longest naked, in their natural packaging, as research shows.”
Organic food must be recyclable and retailers must “strive to avoid all unnecessary packaging” to meet EU standards, according to organicfood.co.uk.
The coconuts are supplied by Genuine Coconut, which says on its website: “We don’t manufacture a product, we bring nature to the consumer, and we do so efficiently and sustainably.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “As Genuine Coconut has made clear, this product is organic and recyclable.”
Dr Laura Foster, head of pollution at Marine Conservation Society, said: “We want to see a reduction of plastic packaging and its global pollution problem. In the case of coconuts, they already come fabulously wrapped by nature and people can easily avoid using single-use plastic while still enjoying the fruit.”