A ground-breaking avocado scanner that will help shoppers assess the ripeness of the fruit in stores and cut down on waste at home is to be trialled by Tesco this week.
By using the scanner customers can find out if their chosen avocado is best used for slicing into a salad or is ripe enough to be smashed and eaten on toast.
The Tesco stores trialling the scanner will be Cheshunt Extra and Colchester Superstore in Essex, Stratford upon Avon Superstore in Warwickshire, Wokingham Superstore in Berkshire and Salisbury Extra in Wiltshire.
The OneThird Avocado Scanner – named after the Dutch company which invented it – can measure the ripeness of an avocado in seconds. It works by using infrared technology to read exactly what the fruit looks like inside.
All shoppers need to do is hold the avocado in front of the scanner and a reading on the scanner then reveals one of two settings – if the avocado is immediately ready for smashing or whether it is better used to be sliced in a salad.
Avocados have never been more popular and in the last year the supermarket sold nearly 15 million more avocados than it did in the previous 52 weeks.
In recent years, there has also been a major trend for people eating smashed avocado on sourdough as either a breakfast treat or daytime snack.
This is made by scooping out a very ripe avocado, smashing it and then adding the ‘smashed’ fruit to sour dough or other toasted bread.
Tesco avocado buyer Lisa Lawrence said:
“The scanner will enable shoppers to choose the avocado that is right for them and which therefore can help them plan their usage and desired shelf life, thereby cutting down on waste.
“It encourages shoppers to check ripeness without squeezing, helping protect avocados on shelf from damage, reducing waste, and keeping produce fresher in store.”
“Smashed avocado on sourdough continues to be one of the trendiest snacks at the moment, with recipes ideas garnering millions of views on social media sites, so we think the scanner will be really popular with shoppers.”
Tesco has worked with global avocado supplier and experts, Westfalia Fruit, who are based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on the project.
Westfalia Fruit’s Head of Retail, Tom Kearns said:
“Launching the One Third Avocado Scanner with Tesco is an exciting innovation that not only aligns with long-term sustainability goals but also enhances the shoppers’ experience – helping customers choose the perfect avocado ripeness for their needs, whether that’s ready to slice or smash.
“The One Third Avocado Scanner is just one of many initiatives we’ve worked on over the past year, from trialing lasered barcodes on Avocados that removes the plastic label from Tesco’s Loose Avocado lines, to rolling out cardboard and paper packaging across all of Tesco’s Avocado Pre-packed lines, saving 20 million pieces of plastic a year.”
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