British retailer Marks and Spencer launched a laser marking method to mark avocados, hoping to reduce paper waste. Switching from paper adhesive labels to laser printing can save 10 tons of label & backing paper and 5 tons of adhesive each year.
After the avocados are harvested at their origin, they are graded according to their origin and then shipped to the UK. After arrival, the ripe avocados are placed in a tray and sent to a conveyor belt, and then marked with a laser machine.
Laser marking will print the retailer’s logo, best before date, country of origin, and cash register code on the outer layer of the avocado. M&S claims that the strong light hitting the fruit skin will only cause the outermost skin to fall off and fade, which is not destructive to the fruit, and the operation can be very precise.
The fruit technology expert said, “In view of the success of all the practices carried out on avocados, we can extend the laser labeling technology to a variety of other fruits and vegetables. We will have the opportunity to reduce the number of products exponentially. The waste of packaging is very exciting.”
In recent years, laser marking technology has been widely used in fruits. For some imported fruits or local fruits with certain brands, in order to highlight brand awareness, labels will be attached to the surface of the fruits to indicate the brand, origin and other information. And this kind of label is easy to be torn or forged, laser marking technology can mark on the peel, not only will not damage the pulp inside the fruit, but also play an anti-counterfeiting effect, unique and innovative.
Laser label technology replaces the original paper label, saving production costs and environmental protection costs for retailers and suppliers, eliminating paper, ink and glue used for traditional labeling, and the application range will be broader.
