Aldi crownless pineapple

Source: Aldi

Aldi has introduced crownless pineapples in a bid to cut food waste.

The discounter is removing crowns during the production process to prevent them ending up in customers’ bins.

The trial will see the removed crowns either used to cultivate next year’s crop or converted into animal feed, reducing food waste by an estimated 1,400 tonnes annually if rolled out to all stores, according to Aldi.

Removing the crowns will also mean more pineapples will fit into each box in transit to stores, providing a claimed reduction of around 187 tonnes of cardboard annually if the trial is successful.

The crownless pineapples are available now in selected Aldi stores in the Midlands, Yorkshire and north east.

It follows a similar move by Sainsbury’s in October last year.

“At Aldi, we are committed to finding sustainable solutions that benefit both our customers and the environment,” said Aldi national sustainability director Liz Fox.

“This trial of crownless pineapples is just one of the latest innovative changes we’re testing out to minimise waste and reduce our carbon footprint.”