Professor invents "ripeness sticker"

[Knicke]

Via Yahoo! News...

[Toliver]

It may be a boon to the consumer but I don't see how any grocery chain would want this. Imagine how much produce won't be purchased because the sticker is too blue or not blue enough.

And what about the color blind who have trouble seeing blue? Guess they're out of luck, eh?

[Chris Amirault]

I was just going to write the same thing. It seems like it's a way to determine unripe produce -- anti-marketing. Who'd want that?

[johnsmith45678]

Most of the grocery stores I shop at have little signs that tell you how to pick produce and determine its ripeness. Oftentimes a lot (or even all) of a certain item is unripe or overripe. When there's only unripe stuff I (and a lot of other people) will still buy it and let it ripen at home.

[docsconz]

With no simple way to tell whether fruit that looks good on the outside will taste good on the inside, consumers often buy peaches, pears and melons they can't eat because they're under-ripe or overripe.

I like the idea. Most fruit that goes to market is underripe. Right now buying fruit at a supermarket is a bit of a crapshoot with the odds definitely stacked in favor of the house. Unfortunately that turns a lot of consumers including myself off. I wouldn't mind buying less than ripe fruit if it was subsequently easier to gauge when it is ripe. Who hasn't bought supermarket peaches and wasted a few trying to figure out if they were ripe yet?

[petite tête de chou]

I *enjoy* touching and smelling my produce to determine its ripeness. A sticker will mean nothing to me.

[The Old Foodie]

Sound like another way of de-skilling the home provisioner/cook using the time-honoured method of making it all sound too difficult for the stupid home provisioner/cook.

Its a bit like the apocryphal story of the person who - when asked about margarine - says they trust cows more than factories. Personally, I trust my nose and fingers more than a pseudo-scientific sticker. And enjoy that aspect of marketing.

But - there are those people on another thread who collect fruit stickers who may be in sticker heaven right now.

[johnsmith45678]

The stickers do not change color to reflect an overripe or rotten piece of fruit. Also, not all fruit produces enough ethylene to be detected by the sticker

Yep, it's definitely not idiot proof. Hopefully people can tell if something is rotten (but the sticker showed that it was ripe!). ;P

[The Old Foodie]

The stickers do not change color to reflect an overripe or rotten piece of fruit. Also, not all fruit produces enough ethylene to be detected by the sticker

Yep, it's definitely not idiot proof. Hopefully people can tell if something is rotten (but the sticker showed that it was ripe!). ;P

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its all a bit pointless, really, isnt it?

[johnsmith45678]

The stickers do not change color to reflect an overripe or rotten piece of fruit. Also, not all fruit produces enough ethylene to be detected by the sticker

Yep, it's definitely not idiot proof. Hopefully people can tell if something is rotten (but the sticker showed that it was ripe!). ;P

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its all a bit pointless, really, isnt it?

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Nah, I'd welcome the sticker to help determine if some produce is underripe.

[russ parsons]

i agree. i think we are way beyond "de-skilling" the home provisioner. they are already there. anything that can be done to increase the odds of them getting better fruit is a benefit and should not be sneered at just because we may not need it ourselves. besides, maybe some people will eventually make the connection that the stuff with the good sticker smells better and has a certain feel.

as for the argument that stores would be reluctant to use it, I find that pretty cynical. i think most groceries would welcome the opportunity to make sure their customers get a better product (particularly if they could figure a way to get an extra dime or two a pound for it).

the reason most fruit in the produce section is under-ripe is not because of some evil conspiracy to deprive of us pleasure. it's under-ripe because the stores are operating on razor-thin profit margins (typically 1% to 2%) and stocking really ripe fruit dramatically increases "shrinkage" (the amount of food that needs to be thrown away as spoiled). a mature but underripe peach can wait 5 to 7 days for someone to buy it (and still be a pretty good piece of fruit if handled correctly). a peach that is fully ripe will be rotten within 2 days.

furthermore, the most common complaint i hear from produce managers is the amount of fruit that has to be thrown away because of bruising caused by ham-fisted shoppers squeezing them to see whether they're ripe. "gentle pressure" people, "gentle pressure."

[The Old Foodie]

i agree. i think we are way beyond "de-skilling" the home provisioner. they are already there. anything that can be done to increase the odds of them getting better fruit is a benefit and should not be sneered at just because we may not need it ourselves. besides, maybe some people will eventually make the connection that the stuff with the good sticker smells better and has a certain feel.

as for the argument that stores would be reluctant to use it, I find that pretty cynical. i think most groceries would welcome the opportunity to make sure their customers get a better product (particularly if they could figure a way to get an extra dime or two a pound for it).

furthermore, the most common complaint i hear from produce managers is the amount of fruit that has to be thrown away because of bruising caused by ham-fisted shoppers squeezing them to see whether they're ripe. "gentle pressure" people, "gentle pressure."

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No intended sneering on my part - and I get your very good point about customers eventually making the connection with the smell/feel of the fruit - but I do think it is sad that so much of someone's time, energy, expertise etc has gone into developing this idea when it would be better all round if that time and money went into educating the consumers.

I bought some avocados a while ago at the farmers market, and one farmer was very enthusiastically explaining to every customer how to tell when the fruit was ripe, and that they should leave the little nub at the stem end on until then (he said they wont continue to ripen if that is removed too soon) . If a customer was buying a number of avocados he was rubbing that little nub off of the ready-to-eat ones for them so that they would know which one was which when they got home. I commented to him how I thought that what he was doing was great customer service, and he said it was no good if people had an unripe avo, didn't like it, or his stall, and never came back. I've bought them from him ever since.

And as the stickers dont tell if the fruit has gone too far and is overripe, aren't we all going to Gently squeeze it anyway?

[johnsmith45678]

Consumers aren't interested in spending the time to get educated .

I wonder why they don't put nutrition labels on (the signs above) fruits and vegetables? Some people would probably be interested in how much fat is in coconuts and avocados (I had never heard that removing the button prevents further ripening - really?), for example.

[russ parsons]

actually, judging from my avocado tree, that little nub doesn't really help the avocado ripen in any way. but what it does do is prevent spoiling while the avocado is ripening. if it is gone, there's usually a rotten spot there by the time the avocado is ready.