"Our customers want yellow bananasnot brown," CEO Joseph DePinto told the newspaper. Fresh Del Monte created the wrap, which slows respiration by keeping most oxygen and moisture out. The bananas, [image-nocss] green when wrapped, will ripen more slowly.
For 7-Eleven, which is increasingly dependent on fresh food sales as cigarette sales spiral downward, this is no small matter, said the report. The chain will sell more than 27 million bananas this year. Customers who walk in for milk or a banana are critical customers the chain cannot afford to disappoint with fruit that looks like grocery store rejects. Selling yellownot brownbananas "is one small example of what we need to do to reinvent ourselves," DePinto added.
The move would give the chain a competitive advantage, convenience store industry consultant Dean Dirks told the paper. "That's why just about everyone in business stays away from fresh fruit at the counter."
Not everyone applauds the effort, however. "More plastic packaging is not a sustainable solution" Jenny Powers, Natural Resources Defense Council spokesperson, told USA Today. "There are better ways than adding a plastic wrapper around something that comes naturally wrapped in the first place."
7-Eleven recognizes that the wrapper could be an environmental issue and has asked supplier Fresh Del Monte to come up with a wrapper that is biodegradable. "We're working at identifying more sustainable packaging," Dennis Christou, marketing vice president at Fresh Del Monte, told the paper.
Extending banana shelf life cuts the carbon footprint by reducing store deliveries, he said.
Fresh Del Monte also is using the technology in new fruit vending machines in the Southeast, the report said. "Consumers tell us they'll eat more fruit if it's available."
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.