On an impromptu shopping stop, my better half picks me up some pears from Tesco’s, I have a penchant for a nice pair! When it comes to the weekly shop we have recently made proactive choices to read labels and buy produce that is as local as possible. However our local Sainsbury’s has had a poor run on pears, mostly battered and ruined or just non-existent.

I was surprised to see the packaging these pairs were in, only four pears, house in a polystyrene tray with a hard plastic moulded lid, wrapped in cellophane and labelled. It was more the style of a kids toy packaging than fruit. The missus agreed it was poor but as we hadn’t found any non-battered pears recently, these looked in good shape. The dismay at the packaging was only irritated when I spotted that these were from New Zealand!

Had these pears been packaged in NZ and travelled in their Samsonite packaging all the way to the UK, if so, the space required for a consignment of pears must be huge, as opposed to loose pears. Hard to believe this would be the case. Which meant that the pears had travelled half way round the planet, remaining intact and then packaged in their armour plating, for what? The trip to the supermarket? Sitting on the shelves? If the pear can be delivered over 11,000 miles without harm, why can these be trusted to sit on a shelve or travel 40 miles to a store?

The other question is clearly the issue of distance, is there nowhere closer to obtain a pear from? On Saturday I browsed the pears at Sainsbury’s, all were from New Zealand or South Africa! I appreciate the both these countries have excellent climates for fruit, but surely the consumer can start to rely on seasonal fruit more often and accept that there are times when certain fruit isn’t readily available. Or the supermarket buyers can source fruit from closer regions.

Same region sourcing, considerate or no packaging, seasonal supplying, is it that hard, what’s the worst outcome? Prices go up slightly to cover damaged units/sustainable packaging, consumers in the UK can’t make pear crumble in March? Come on supermarkets, show some inspiration, and consumers, your choice can drive the market, donate some nectar points to some smart choices.

Think local and long term.

~ by Thinker on 16 - June - 2008.