Iceland to reduce plastic packaging on fresh food

The trial will start this week in 33 of the frozen food specialist’s stores in London and the South East. It will remove or significantly reduce the plastic content in packaging across 38 fresh fruit and vegetable lines.

The first phase of the trial will see 29 lines offer plastic-free or reduced-packaging options, with 11 more lines being introduced from March 4.

Iceland said the trial will remove seven tonnes of plastic and “reflects the growing consumer appetite to reduce plastic consumption”.

The retailer was the first globally to commit to removing all plastic packaging from its own-label brands by the end of 2023.

Managing director Richard Walker said: “We understand that consumers are particularly aware of the amount of plastic being used to package produce across the industry and we’ve been working hard to develop user-friendly, sustainable alternatives.

“This trial is the largest ever of its kind and we’re excited to see how customers respond to the range of solutions provided. The trial is truly scalable, and our findings will help to further define our strategy for eliminating plastic across our product offering.

“Most importantly, customers will not have to pay a premium for the plastic-free or reduced-plastic products as prices will remain exactly the same, and we’re proud to be democratising choice in this way.”

Walker wrote an article on retail-week.com last week in which he laid out the business’ belief that sustainability “can’t just be a middle-class concern”.

He also articulated what the frozen food specialist is doing to tackle its “triple bottom line” of “climate justice, social justice and business performance”.