Environmentally wasteful packaging? Individually wrapped prunes

[Liberal_in_LA]

Saw this commercial tonight. Individually wrapped prunes by sunsweet.



I'm not the only one who was amazed at this new and improved way to sell prunes.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/02/waste_of_packag.php

Waste of Packaging: Individually Wrapped Prunes
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 02.10.06

Can you think of a good reason why prunes should be individually wrapped? Yeah, neither could we. This "new and improved" packaging is just one of many excessively overpackaged items you can find in just about any aisle of your local supermarket. By simply doing away with the individual wrapping, this box would obviously use much less packaging.

[1]

1. "Can you think of a good reason why prunes should be individually wrapped?"

i suppose so they don't congeal into one solid dried-out lump on the bottom of the container?

so they remain fresh and transportable until you do want to consume one?

that's two good reasons.

dude, if you want to point out over packaging in products, these tiny little bits of plastic encasing individual prunes are not a great example. unless you consume massive amounts of prunes in a single sitting... a single prune usually does quite nicely for me. and i prefer them fresh when i do eat them. that entire container might last me a whole year. so the single wrapping is entirely appropriate. it keeps the product fresh for when i want to consume it. great idea.

sorry...

[Canuckistanian]

2. "Dude", there are plenty of packages that can hold prunes in bulk

What the OP is referring to is the concept of wasteful packaging that still prevails in our throwaway society.

Sooner or later, things like this will bite us in the ass. After all, it takes extra energy to produce, handle and dispose of all this "convenience".

We need LESS waste, not more material for future generations to clean up.

[1]

3. "there are plenty of packages that can hold prunes in bulk"

yeah? well then, enlighten me to these packaging techniques that would ensure the freshness of prunes over an extended period of time like this individual packaging does. ones that would not be anymore "over packaging" that this approach.

i am always eager to learn. how would you propose they do it?

i admit, i am not a "prune packaging" expert. i just know how i like my prunes, and this is the smartest concept i have seen so far.

help me understand...

[Canuckistanian]

5. Let me make this simple

You go to the store. In the produce section.

You buy the big bag (like they've always been sold) of prunes.

You go home and put them in a "tupperware container".

Google it if you're unfamiliar with the concept.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. or a small ziplock bag.. put 10 in a bag. reuse the bag.

[1]

10. but they are in a bag! how fucking irresponsible! a fucking plastic bag!

then in their little plastic "tupperware container" they do curdle and congeal and dry up, as i obviously do not consume them at your pace. so i have to toss them in the trash at some point. what a waste.

look dude, purchase and consume your prunes in whatever manner is appropriate for you. eat the whole fucking bag upon returning home if that is what you do.

i will do it my way.

what i won't do is take any shit from you because i do it my way.

and you are just going to have to live with that.

sorry...

[Two Americas]

16. it can be done, but here is the problem

The higher the moisture content in the dried fruit, the greater the spoilage problem.

The solution is to dry them relatively hard, and that is the old fashioned way to do it. The fruit is then steamed or used in cooking to soften it.

But Americans want dried fruit as a year round ready-to-eat snack, and they want them soft and chewy in demand. That means leaving moisture in the fruit, and that then means preservatives, air-tight packaging, or a certain amount of spoilage.

[shintao]

34. Maybe put them on a wooden stick

Then you could use the stick to pick your teeth, and finally as kindling in the fireplace.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Ok. Maybe they'll also start individually wrapping raisins for you.

[1]

6. what a ridiculous response. and you know it. if you can't respond to an argument...

then perhaps you shouldn't start threads.

there is smart packaging and then there is over packaging.

or should we just purchase everything in 100lb burlap sacks? and then toss 90% of it as waste?

madon...

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. I'm gonna ask write Kelloggs. Suggest individually wrapped cheerios.

Sorry dude or dudette. I think individually wrapped prunes are ridiculous. I recall prunes lasting refrigerated in the jar for a long time.

[1]

11. i don't. and i think individually wrapped prunes are a perfect solution...

in the end, the consumer will sort this out.

as consumers do, dude...

[Joe the Liberal]

14. Lol............

How pointless to be arguing about prunes, of all the things out there to argue about we sit here and argue about prunes and how or how not they should be packaged :rofl: :popcorn:

[Two Americas]

17. important subject lol

Of course I work with fruit growers, so I may be biased.

However, the nutrients in fruits are essential for good health, more so then we once thought, and the average American diet is still remarkably deficient in fruit. Also, we are losing our family fruit growers at am alarming rate, and to lose them and become dependent on imports for fruits and vegetables would be a great national tragedy I think. Getting fresh nutritious affordable food to the public is an important issue.

[1]

20. true that. but the op has convinced me. next time i want a prune...

i will purchase them in a 100 lb burlap sacks (and store the sacks in the "root cellar" beneath my hovel.)

then when i want a prune i will descend into the depths with a hammer and chisel to cleave away one of these delightful dried fruits from that solid mass in my netherworld. and after i wash away the rot i can then gnaw on that tasteless, dried up fucker, probably all day, until it is of sufficient consistency to perhaps swallow.

yep. that's why i buy prunes.

(and feel free to add that to the mountain of research about the buying habits of the occasional prune lover. if i can suffer the "individually wrapped raisins" bullshit, then you get my point.)

[Two Americas]

21. oh chill out

Discuss the issue calmly and intelligently, or not at all.

I explained some of the issues involved here.

Glad you have your own personal strategy for dealing with this. Food is a public issue, and not so simple as you would make it out to be.

Mocking and ridiculing people around here is so counter-productive, and is way out of control.

The OP is offering an opinion. What they are saying is a legitimate subject in the view of the growers.

[Two Americas]

22. I apologize

Sorry I snapped at you.

[1]

24. heh. i only post here to be snapped at...

that is what i do. it is my job.

what you post is truth and people should read that and take it seriously...

[SmileyRose]

9. Whatever it takes to get fat Americans to eat prunes instead of snickers

I can promise you there's a lot more plastic being used on snack sized candy etc.

[Two Americas]

18. that is the thinking, yes

There is a debate in the industry. I am on the other side of the debate, but what you just said is the thinking of my opponents, and they are sincere and their view is not without merit.

The distributor pictured in the OP has gone heavily into the fancy packaging direction, and we are all watching that closely.

It is frustrating to me, believe me, that a fancy more convenient package is more powerful with the consumers that all of our education and promotion work. I am afraid that the food ignorance of the average American consumer is so great, that the package is the only basis they have upon which to make purchasing decisions.

A shocking percentage of the public could not tell you that prunes are from plums, or that plums grow on trees, nor tell you when their season might be.

[SmileyRose]

26. Individual packaging won't go anywhere as long as it takes 2 wage earners.

when both parents are working 50-80 hrs a week outside the home they are going to go for the easy.

[Two Americas]

28. now we are talking

Agriculture is compelled to respond to the public, in part because it is so heavily regulated. The "lifestyle" issues are deep and broad, and start with declining wages, job insecurity, sprawl and transportation difficulties, and the need for two incomes (that itself was a 50% wage reduction) to support a household.

The public is demanding that farming adjust and change in order to better support a certain suburban way of living. But it is suburban that can't be supported efficiently and that is not sustainable.

[uppityperson]

12. How about potatoes individually wrapped in plastic ready for microwaving.

I mean, come on. Is it that difficult to just wash a spud?

[1]

13. i love du. the only place i know where you can argue the packaging of prunes...

[Two Americas]

19. many issues here

Nutrition and health, the environment, the collapse of the public agricultural infrastructure, maintaining our ability to feed ourselves and not become reliant on food imports, food safety issues, waste and spoilage, packaging and shipping expense, the survival of family farms, toxicity (the packaging we encounter every day is more hazardous then anything happening on the farm). I sit in on the meetings where decisions like this are made, and all of those issues are heatedly discussed.

[Two Americas]

15. I am in the business

There are ongoing debates within the fruit industry about this.

The tastes of American consumers are an enormous challenge. Dried fruit is a good example. People are very fussy about texture. In the Old World people are much less fussy. Americans want things to look a certain way and they want to have maximum convenience. They want dried fruit to be chewy and soft, colorful and sweet, and don't understand that it is food if it is not spelled out for them and packages attractively. They have zero tolerance for irregularities, pit fragments or variations in color or texture. It is difficult to get and maintain dried fruit at just the right moisture content for consumer acceptance. A little too hard, they reject it. A little too soft, they reject it. Hard to buck all of that. Americans don't know what food is any more.

The challenge is to encourage Americans to eat more fruit - it is still abysmal compared to Europe.

I am on the other side of the argument - that we need to get better flavor (more diversity in varieties and less emphasis on appearance) more freshness (emphasis on seasons and local varieties) and do a better job of public outreach and education rather than come up with fancy new packages, but I am in the minority.

I would say thought that a much higher percentage of fruit growers and sellers are interested in doing the right thing than is true among the general public. Everything is wastefully packaged. The typical consumer values the packaging more than they do the contents. Tons more wastefully packaged candy is sold than fruit, as just one example.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you. Help us build more public demand for fruit that is fresh, in season, local, more varieties available, flavor over appearance, and that will help those of us within the industry who are fighting the good fight.

[Lucian]

23. So when are they going to start individually wrapping raisins and such?

:eyes:

Wasteful indeed.

[4 t 4]

25. Individually wrapped anything

why do you focus on prunes ? How about candies or some cookies. Like those little foil candies or those Italian cookies or little packets of sugar or when you get a product from a store and it's all cardboard. I know what you mean but what made you focus on the prunes cause there's so much to be pissed about ? I guess because it's real fruit with no reason to add waste ? I get it

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. Focused on prunes because it's new to the individually wrapping trend.

Just seemed so ridiculous. Eat them from the jar.

[B o d i]

33. Individually wrapped grains of rice!

Dinner will be in about an hour, let me unwrap all the rice first, then boil it...

[Le Taz Hot]

27. Can I add one?

Tea bags. Just give me the tea unencumbered by a bag (which affects the taste) and give it to me in loose-leaf form. I can find some loose-leaf here and there but it's not readily available at the grocery stores. I have to make a special trip to a Middle-East grocery store or to Whole Foods (WAAAAYYYYY jacked up prices).

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. loose leaf tea used to be widely available. I had one of those metal tea thingies. n/t

[Duer 157099]

31. Individually wrapped prunes, I think, is an exception

I can think of good reasons for individually wrapping this particular item, as has been mentioned above.

Not the least of which is to maybe keep people from eating too many at one sitting, lol... (I know I've done that! Fess up, I know some of you have too)

Plus, it makes them easily portable, kind of an "on the run" (if you will) snack.

So many other overly-packaged items out there that simply have no logic at all. At least this one does make sense, to some of us.

[shintao]

32. Seems a lot stuff is individually wrapped nowdays

A lot of fruits are wrapped seperate. I make jewelry, and all my materials come individually wrapped, but maybe in one box. Of late, items out of China are being sent 1 to a package, maybe for cheaper shipping(?), not sure.

I notice printer ink is individually wrapped, straws, etc.

I hate the latest packaging of toys for instance that have wire wrapped around items enclosed inside a plastic sealed box requiring a Bowie Knife or utility scissors or shears to get into. Whoever sells that chit prolly thinks we are all theives or something.

And how about those damned plastic pill trays. Try getting your sleeping pill out of one of those at the end of the day!

[Liberal_in_LA]

35. We've had whole threads based on the clamshell wrapping and wire wrapped toys.

stuff is so hard to get out of that type of packaging.

[Sanctified]

36. Have you ever take prunes in your lunch?

If you have you know you just don't throw them unwrapped into your lunchbox or paper bag, you put them in something like ziploc bag that you just throw away after using it. A little individually wrapped prune is less garbage waste than a ziploc bag.