Trader Joe’s saves customers money by not wrapping food in unnecessary packaging
Produce like potatoes, onions and apples at Trader Joe’s will no longer be sold in their infamous plastic packaging.
If you’ve ever been to a Trader Joe’s market, you know almost everything from cucumbers to nectarines comes in a ridiculous amount of packaging.
In response to customer complaints, the company has decided to adopt the obvious solution: simply leave produce loose.
While they haven’t done away with all the plastic boxes — for smaller, more delicate items like strawberries and blueberries — they’ve already taken items like garlic and lemons out of their plastic nets at some stores.
In the process, they’ve cut their costs and prices by up to a quarter on many items.
For example, a two-pack of garlic used to cost $1.39 and now a single head costs $.49, a 25 percent reduction.
Thays because the costs of making the plastic sleeve, bundling the garlic together, and then topping the bag off with a paper header, have all been eliminated, Trader Joe’s produce manager Jack Salamon explained.
The company is also replacing plastic baguette bags with “highly recyclable” paper bags, and styrofoam meat packaging with recyclable plastic.
“We are on track to eliminate 4 million pounds of plastic from our stores in 2019 and 2½ million pounds of that plastic has come directly out of the produce section,” said Salamon.