More and more consumers are getting concerned about the use of plastics.
Whether it is cups in take away coffee shops, plastic straws or vegetable packaging, the concern and scrutiny over the apparent needless use of plastic is growing. With this in mind, I decided, with the help of some fellow bloggers, to undertake some research into supermarket use of plastics. The findings were more surprising than you would think. The research was also picked up by the Daily Mail Supermarkets accused of punishing shoppers who want to use less plastic as they charge more for fruit and veg that is sold loose and not in trays or wrappers.
Fruit and vegetables
I wrote a shopping list, which for this section was:
| 6 tomatoes loose |
| 6 tomatoes in packaging |
| 500g cherry tomatoes loose |
| 500g cherry tomatoes in box |
| seedless grapes 500g loose |
| seedless grapes 500g in box |
| 250g mushrooms loose |
| 250g mushrooms in box |
| 3 peppers loose |
| 3 peppers in plastic wrap |
| A cauliflower |
| A cauliflower in plastic wrap |
| 6 gala apples loose |
| pack of gala apples |
| 6 pink lady apples |
| bag of pink lady apples |
| Pack of avocados |
| 2 avocados |
| 4 baking potatoes |
| bag of baking potatoes |
We then bought the items at nine different supermarkets and retail outlets.
We found that biggest discrepancy in prices was with peppers. Here are the prices of 3 peppers bought loose and 3 peppers in plastic wrap.
| Shop |
3 peppers loose |
3 peppers in plastic |
| Tesco |
£1.65 |
£0.95 |
| M & S |
£1.50 |
£1.50 |
| Sainsbury’s |
£1.65 |
£1.00 |
| Aldi |
£1.59 |
£0.92 |
| Lidl |
£1.47 |
£0.95 |
| Morrisons |
£1.80 |
£0.97 |
| Waitrose |
£1.45 |
£1.50 |
| Co-op |
£1.95 |
£0.95 |
| Asda |
£1.65 |
£0.95 |
In Marks and Spencer, peppers are the same price whether in plastic or not and actually 5p cheaper when bought loose in Waitrose. All the other supermarkets charge more for loose peppers, the worst culprit is the Co-Op where peppers are 51% cheaper in plastic.
Whilst we may expect to pay more for convenience, Emma Maslin from The Money Whisperer blog is frustrated that not only is most fruit and veg sold packaged, she also ends up having to buy more than she needs. “Co-op is my local convenience store and the place I tend to go for my mid-week top up shops when I need a few bits or have run out of something unexpectedly. If I want to pop in if I’m missing a pepper for a meal, or a piece of fruit for a lunchbox at the end of the week, I find it disappointing that most fruit and veg is sold packaged and not loose.”
Marks and Spencer and Waitrose led the way again with Gala apples. It was cheaper to buy them loose than in a packet. At the other end of the scale Tesco charges 24% to buy them loose than in a bag. Close on Tesco heels is Asda selling them at 23% more and Morrisons at 19%.
| Shop |
6 gala apples loose |
Bag of 6 gala apples |
| Tesco |
£2.10 |
£1.60 |
| M & S |
£1.85 |
£2.25 |
| Sainsbury’s |
£1.80 |
£1.50 |
| Aldi |
£1.38 |
£1.29 |
| Morrisons |
£1.86 |
£1.50 |
| Waitrose |
£1.86 |
£2.00 |
| Asda |
£1.75 |
£1.35 |
The science
Ethylene is released by fruits and vegetables which stimulates ripening and spoilage of produce nearby. This starts a chain reaction and can contribute to food waste. So if you have a rotting item of fruit stored with other fruit it will speed up their rotting. Most of us know that bananas of course will speed up the ripening/over ripening of fruit hence the banana holders! So supermarkets say that they need to package to prolong life. More work needs to be done to determine the food waste due to people buying more than they need and the damaging effects of plastics in the environment.
Consistency
With this in mind it is hard to understand the lack of consistency in loose and packaging prices within and across supermarkets. Why can one supermarket make loose apples cheaper than packaged but not another supermarket?
Here is the situation with the humble baking potato, whether it comes loose or bagged:
| Shop |
Baking potatoes loose per kilo |
Baking potatoes bag per kilo |
| Tesco |
£1.10 |
£1.43 |
| M & S |
£2.00 |
£1.85 |
| Sainsbury’s |
£1.00 |
£1.10 |
| Lidl |
£0.49 |
£0.72 |
| Morrisons |
£0.81 |
£1.00 |
| Waitrose |
£1.08 |
£0.84 |
Despite Tesco and Morrisons both charging more for plasticated peppers and apples than for loose, they both charge less (Tesco 30%, Morrisons 23%) for loose baking potatoes than for bagged ones! Lidl charge a whopping 47% less for loose potatoes compared with the bagged ones.
Marks and Spencer and Waitrose are the opposite! They both charge more for loose potatoes than bagged!
This becomes all the more confusing when checking supermarkets for overall prices.
| Supermarket |
Items available loose |
Items available packaged |
Items cheaper loose |
Items cheaper packaged |
Same price |
| Tesco |
7 |
10 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
| M & S |
6 |
8 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
| Sainsbury’s |
7 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
| Aldi |
5 |
10 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Lidl |
3 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Morrisons |
7 |
10 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
| Waitrose |
6 |
10 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
| Co-op |
3 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Asda |
4 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Total |
48 |
84 |
22 |
22 |
2 |
Lidl, Aldi and Asda offered the fewest loose alternatives compared to packaged items.
Oddly many supermarkets offer grapes “loose” when in fact they still come in a bag as opposed to a box. None of the bloggers were able to understand why a cauliflower needs to come in open plastic either! I don’t think they are alone!
Michelle, who blogs as Utterlyscrummy and shopped at Asda, was disappointed with the lack of loose fruit, and especially vegetables, there. Eileen at YourMoneySorted researched Lidl and added “I am a huge fan of Lidl, because they offer really great value for money. However, doing this has really emphasised to me how few options there are to buy loose food, thereby making it more difficult to choose more environmentally friendly options.”
The money bloggers armed with their lists also found difficulty comparing like with like in some cases.
Faith at Much More With Less said “Principles are expensive! It’s frustrating when some packs are labelled with cost per item, like per apple, rather than per kilo, making it more difficult to compare prices. I was surprised how much food was cheaper wrapped in plastic packaging than when sold loose.”
Deli counters
The money bloggers looked at the deli counters where available and compared the prices of counter products with fridge prices and the types of packaging used. At the counter fish, meat and cheeses are displayed without packaging. Is there then a need to add plastic?
The shopping list for this section was:
| Tuna 220g – steak fridge and counter |
| Prawns 200g – coldwater fridge and freezer |
| Cod fillets 250g – fridge and counter |
| Mature cheddar – 500g fridge and counter |
| Stilton – 200g fridge and counter |
| Ham cooked – 125g fridge and counter |
| Sausages – 454g 8 sausages fridge and counter |
Here are the results of the mystery shopping for those items:
| Supermarket |
Items available at counter |
Items packaged in fridge |
Items cheaper from counter |
Items cheaper from fridge |
Same price |
| Tesco |
7 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
| Sainsbury’s |
6 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
| Morrisons |
5 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
| Waitrose |
6 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
| Total |
24 |
27 |
11 |
10 |
2 |
The products tended, in general, to be cheaper from the deli counter. However, is this less packaging and do the supermarkets do as much as they can to reduce the packaging further? The money bloggers asked staff at the counters if they could bring and use their own packaging. The answers were a little bemusing:
Tesco said they wouldn’t allow it.
Sainsbury’s said that if someone wants to use their own containers they can do so. But to avoid cross contamination they would have to weigh the items on plastic wrap, and it would then be thrown away. That would use the same amount of plastic as if someone hadn’t brought their own container.
Morrisons said it would be fine to bring in boxes. The counter staff would weigh food on their scales, then provide a sticker with the relevant info and hand over food to put in my boxes. It wasn’t clear if they would use plastic here or the trays.
Waitrose said they wouldn’t allow it.
Cross contamination was cited as a reason for not allowing customers to use their own containers or having to use plastic. But it wasn’t clear why different boxes couldn’t be put on one piece of paper on the scales.
Pricing overall
Bizarrely the research also threw up an unexpected issue for Jamie from ThriftyMummaThriftyBubba, who shopped at Aldi. “As a family we regularly shop at Aldi and like the low prices without compromising quality. Unfortunately, the Aldi staff in the 3 separate stores I visited were unable to give me the price per kilo of individual items. They were also reluctant to let me weigh an individual item on the till which would have allowed me to work out the price per kilo myself. They also had no idea if Aldi HQ would have this information. So, who knows if it truly is better value for money or not because I couldn’t compare price by weight in store!”
Waitrose came out best for prices, which were cheaper for buying loose than packaged. The other supermarkets were as bad as each other and the statistics on prices were mainly hindered by lack of availability of certain products.
All the supermarkets sold more packaged items than loose items.
Emma Bradley from MumsSavvySavings who shopped at Sainsbury’s was shocked at how much cheaper the packaged items were. Emma Drew from EmmaDrew has started to make a conscious effort to cut back on my plastic use, but found that sticking to a grocery budget meant that it isn’t always possible. “I am surprised at how much cheaper pre-packaged foods, with extra plastic, are than the alternatives. I would love to see supermarkets using less plastic, and making what plastic they do use recyclable.
Packaging
So, which supermarket is better at encouraging consumers to buy loose rather than in packaging, where the item was available to buy both loose and packaged? Catherine from The Money Panel feels Waitrose still has a long way to go despite leading in the price of loose compared to packaged. It is still selling many more packaged fruit and vegetables than loose. “As a family we always shop at Waitrose because we love the quality of the food. I do get very frustrated at the amount of packaging I recycle within minutes of unpacking our order. It’s a huge waste.”
It’s not just the fact that consumers buy the packaged items because they are frequently cheaper. It is also wasting food. This is a common criticism from customers who live on their own. Regulars on this blog will know that I have quite a History with Tesco. In September 2016 I interviewed The UK CEO Matt Davies and Group CEO Dave Lewis. I asked about this wasting of food for people living on their own. Last year I interviewed the then new Chief Customer Officer and questioned her on this issue too. She agreed with me and mentioned some of what they were doing. But seems they have a long way to go!
Ruth from RuthmakesMoney, who looked at Marks and Spencer, says “As I’m usually cooking just for myself, I find it hugely frustrating that it’s so often much cheaper and easier to buy a pack of items like peppers rather than buying them individually. It sometimes feels like waste is inevitable. I’d love to see supermarkets offering more items in smaller quantities, whilst cutting down on unnecessary packaging.”
Supermarkets comments
All the supermarkets were asked to comment on our findings:
Morrisons said “It’s not an easy issue as the plastic on fruit and veg also has the function of preserving it and avoiding food waste. We’re working through it” and referred me to their statement on packaging.
Marks and Spencer said “On what M&S is doing on packaging and waste, we have a number of commitments and initiatives under way in these areas. (More details on their site).
Aldi commented “Aldi’s model is based on simplicity and efficiency, which creates operational cost savings which are passed on to customers in the form of low prices. Aldi does not have scales in its stores and loose fruit and veg is priced per item. Customers can purchase some of Aldi’s best-selling fruit and veg lines (by volume) in loose form including bananas, potatoes and peppers. Earlier this year Aldi announced a comprehensive plan to reduce plastic, including a commitment that all packaging on its own-label products will be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022”
Sainsbury’s said “We’re focused on offering our customers choice, quality and value. We will offer fruit and veg without packaging where we can, as long as it doesn’t compromise the quality and shelf life of the product. We’re also committed to ensuring our packaging is as recyclable as it can be and are one of few retailers to invest in recycling facilities at many of our supermarkets. In addition, we’re a member of the UK Plastics Pact and have committed to meeting collective targets by 2025.” (More details on their website).
Our colleagues also allow customers to use their own containers. As our colleagues explained in store, before we transfer the product to a customer’s container, we use a small amount of plastic to weigh and transfer the items for safety reasons.”
The Daily Mail asked the supermarkets for comment. Many of them said that the research wasn’t comparing like with like because some products were bigger than others! This is twaddle. Items were compared by weight! The reason I asked the bloggers to weigh everything was so that it WAS a fair comparison. (Rolling eyes emoticon!)
Lidl, get this, apparently said that they sell red peppers loose and the packaged ones were different colours! The price of a red pepper? 59p Pack of three coloured peppers? 95p So they are actually saying that a yellow or green pepper would be half the price of a red one?! They were all the same price in every other supermarket! Clutching at straws? And I don’t suppose they are environmentally friendly ones either!
The most bizarre of all?
This week I had my Tesco order delivered. In my order were parsnips, cauliflower, carrots and onions. Tesco uses brown recyclable bags for fruit and veg. For no apparent reason, they were all put into separate plastic bags inside the brown paper bag. I cannot fathom why? Any suggestions?
So what can be done?
In January of this year, Theresa May committed to the UK eliminating avoidable plastic waste by 2042. This target, more than a generation away, has been widely criticised by environmental groups as “lacking urgency”. UK supermarkets still pay less for collecting and recycling their plastic waste than in any other European country! Tax payers pick up 90% of the costs.
Most of the supermarkets have signed up to a voluntary pact, whose promises include removing “problematic or unnecessary” single-use plastic by 2025, making 100% of plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable, with 70% effectively recycled or composted and all plastic packaging to include 30% average recycled content. None of this is enforceable.
In March of this year the world’s first “plastic-free” aisle opened in the Netherlands. Launched by the Dutch chain Ekoplaza in Amsterdam, the aisle will offer over 700 products with no plastic packaging. UK consumers and campaigners are calling for UK supermarkets here to do the same, but no supermarket has agreed to do this yet. It appears to be consumer pressure that gets thing moving in the industry. It is therefore up to us, as consumers, to keep up that pressure and get the change that’s so clearly needed.
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