Tesco is trialling an innovative solution to a common supermarket dilemma: in-store scanners that allow shoppers to assess avocado ripeness before purchase.
Available in five stores from this week, the machines operate like tiny X-rays, reading the fruit’s internal state.
Customers simply hold an avocado to the scanner, which then provides one of two readings: ‘immediately ready for smashing’ or ‘better used to be sliced in a salad’.
Named the One Third Avocado Scanner after the Dutch company that invented it, the technology can measure ripeness in mere seconds, aiming to help consumers pick the perfect fruit.
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.
“Smashed avocado on sourdough continues to be one of the trendiest snacks at the moment, garnering millions of views on social media sites for recipe ideas, so we think, for that reason, the scanner will be really popular with shoppers.”
The Tesco stores trialling the scanner will be:
Tesco said avocados have never been more popular and in the last year it sold nearly 15 million more avocados than it did in the previous 52 weeks.
The supermarket giant has worked with global avocado supplier Westfalia Fruit, based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on the project.
Westfalia Fruit’s commercial manager Emma Howes said the scanner is “just one of many initiatives we’ve worked on over the past year”.
She said other initiatives included trialling lasered avocados which removes the plastic label from Tesco’s loose avocado lines, and rolling out cardboard and paper packaging across all Tesco’s avocado pre-packed lines.
She said this helped in “saving 20 million pieces of plastic a year”.
