Tesco is beginning to sell greener satsumas and clementines to try and help reduce food waste.
As these fruits are grown in Spain, and with recent season temperatures being higher, the fruit has been slowed down by the natural process of the fruit’s skin turning orange, which has led Tesco to make this decision.
Although the skin is still green in colour, Tesco has said that it is just as sweet and juicy as you would find with the orange version.
To accelerate the colouring process, growers have been putting the fruit into a ripening room, but the extra handling has led to a small quantity of fruit being damaged and ending up in waste.
Tesco believes that if this stage is removed, shoppers will be able to benefit from the decision, as the fruit will have a longer expiry date of up to two days, meaning less food waste within the home.
Tesco citrus buyer Debbie Lombaard said: “At the moment green easy peelers fall outside of the general quality specifications set by UK supermarkets but Tesco has made the leading move in order to cut down on food waste.
“As a result of this move to take out a handling stage in the journey from farm to fork shoppers will gain extra freshness for their satsumas and clementines.”
The fruit will be sold as ‘Perfectly Ripe Early Season Satsumas’ and will cost the same as the orange coloured ones.
