I don’t even want to think about the amount of money I’ve wasted on buying too many avocados because they were on sale, only for most of them to go bad before I get the chance for me to eat them. I’m sure a lot of people can relate. We millennials LOVE our avocados (I mean that’s why we’re all renting instead of owning, right?), but they are some tricky little guys.
Relief is on the way, though. Apeel Sciences introduces an all-natural solution to prematurely spoiled food. The California-based company, founded in 2012, has developed a plant-derived coating for fruit and vegetables, which acts as an extra peel of sorts and slows down oxidation and water loss, the two main reasons food goes bad. This coating can make your produce last 2–3 times longer, saving you a headache and money.
As the CEO says, “we use food to preserve food,” meaning that not only will this help to cut down on food waste, which adds up to around 130 billion pounds or $161 billion yearly in the US, but it is also a sustainable and healthy solution in terms of production and consumption.
The coating, it is good to note, also doesn’t change the taste, texture, or appearance of any produce.
Apeel avocados have already been successfully piloted in 109 Kroger stores, but will now expand to over 1,100 stores from coast-to-coast. Kroger has proudly adopted this technology as part of their Zero Hunger, Zero Waste Initiative.
The future seems bright for this idea, and there are already plans in place to pilot limes and asparagus in Cincinnati Kroger’s soon, as well as plans to expand to additional fruits and vegetables and retailers in the near future.
I, for one, am so excited about the possibility that my avocado will be at its prime for more than 30 minutes. Ending food waste is cool, too, I guess.
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Hannah Michelle Lambert is the Social Media + Events Coordinator at Worthix, as well as the host of the monthly CX News Recap segment. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
