Makro - "Life Extending Stickers (110s)"

Food waste is a problem. In Colombia, 6.1 million tons of food are thrown away every year, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, backed up by the Colombian Department of National Planning. (Worldwide, it’s more like 2.5 billion.) Overall, almost 40% of fruits and veg end up as waste. This is partly because ripe fruit is considered past its prime. To turn this attitude around, supermarket chain MAKRO turned to an unlikely medium – the small stickers often found on fruit to identify their provenance. In this case, the labels contained delicious recipes based on the maturity of the produce concerned. That brown over-ripe banana? Perfect for cup-cakes! The idea provoked conversation and has reaped awards at Cannes and the LIA, among others. Let’s hope it bears fruit internationally and is adopted by other retailers.