Korean store unveils ‘genius’ banana packaging to avoid overripe fruit

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A Korean supermarket has launched a new form of banana packaging, which is being hailed as “genius” on social media.

Many would say that there’s no need for bananas to be sold in plastic packaging, considering the fact that the fruit already grows in a natural casing.

However, others have been expressing their admiration for a Korean supermarket’s innovative wrapping of its bananas, in which a set of six bananas are placed alongside one another in a packet in order of ripeness.

In this way, one can avoid purchasing a bunch of bananas that are overly ripe or not ripe at all.

Consumers are encouraged on the E-Mart website to eat one banana per day, starting with the most ripe banana and then working their way through the packet of six.

One person on Twitter has described the product as, “Genius at work,” with another person stating that it’s a “practical solution to food waste.”

However, other individuals have been less enthused by the idea, condemning the supermarket for its decision to encase the bananas in plastic packaging.

“Rather than putting them in a stupid plastic packet, couldn’t stores just stock three grades of loose banana bunches and you pick two bananas from each? Too simple,” a Twitter user wrote.

“Another victory for the plastic packaging industry,” another person stated. “Insanity.”

In December, it was announced that farmers in Japan had successfully grown bananas with edible skin.

The “Mongee Banana”, as it is named, costs £4.20 per banana due to the high demand for the fruit.

In June this year a company in California announced that it had developed an edible coating that can reportedly make an avocado last twice as long as normal.

Apeel Sciences, which has received more than $110m (£86m) in venture capital from investors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been working on the edible coating for six years in an effort to reduce food waste.