Australian supermarket Woolworths has earned the ire of the public after a photo went viral showing hundreds of bananas wrapped in plastic packages.
First posted to Reddit on Saturday, the photo drew criticism for what appeared to be a blatant overuse of plastic. Many pointed out that bananas come with ready-made "packaging" anyway in the form of their...yellow skin.
The photo received hundreds of upvotes and had people questioning the supermarket's motives.
Soon, people on Twitter and Facebook discovered the packaging. Woolworths responded to the backlash, saying some customers prefer the plastic wrap. People weren't buying it...
@woolworths I am in Qld and don't need extra plastic to pick my fresh produce. I also don't care what shape or size they come in as long as it's local and fresh. I also don't mind spending more to get it. I have two of your stores near me and I travel further to a farmers market.
@whereisdaz We actively avoid buying plastic prepacked veges and fruits in our household! Woolworths and Coles need to move on with the times and become plastic-free role models. 😥
@bairdjulia @whereisdaz @woolworths Can I be cynical & suggest that it's not customers who prefer packaged bananas. It's Woolworths. Plastic packaging allows Woolies to slap a barcode on them, so ppl can't pretend they're onions at the self-serve checkouts. Get rid of the plastic & hire more checkout operators.
@woolworths @bairdjulia I would actually prefer to be able to select different sized bananas from the #banana section.
you cannot be serious??! @woolworths more than a million birds and 100,000 sea mammals and turtles die each year from eating or getting tangled in plastic waste #bansingleuseplastics BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTICS NOW //// #oceanspace https://t.co/iyYgi4VvFs
Yesterday, breakfast television program Today asked its followers about the packaging, which only generated more heat.
And now the Woolworths' Twitter account is in slight damage control.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, a Woolworths spokesperson said the packaged bananas were only a small range available in Queensland stores.
The bananas, explained the spokesperson, were pre-packaged for customers who are looking for convenience and "prefer the ability to pick up a pre-packed product which meets the needs of their family at a consistent price". The supermarket is also tweeting to people complaining on Twitter to clarify.
Since July 2017 Woolworths says it has reduced plastic in produce by over 100 tonnes and loose bananas were available to buy at each store that also sold pre-packaged bundles.
