- You can now bring your own containers to some Pick n Pay stores and load up on fruit and veg, instead of having it packaged in plastic.
- Apart from helping the environment, you can save money - the unpackaged products are much cheaper.
- Our comparison shows that you will save a lot on chillies, green beans and mushrooms in particular.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Earlier this week retail giant Pick n Pay announced 13 stores will feature “plastic and packaging-free” produce zones - called "nude zones" - as part of a trial to see if customers can be convinced to switch from pre-packaged food to buying loose products.
You can now bring your own containers to some Pick n Pay stores and load up on fruit and veg, instead of having it packaged in plastic.
To encourage customers to buy in to the idea, customers can expect the prices of the goods to be cheaper than their package counterparts, Liz Van Niekerk, head of Head of Produce and Horticulture at Pick n Pay, told Business Insider.
Read: Pick n Pay veggies now have sell-by dates etched onto their skin - here's why
“The trial stores are reporting really good feedback and the reaction has been better than even we anticipated, which is really encouraging. We’re working hard to reduce prices of our nude products still further, so customers will receive even more value.”
Business Insider compared the 35 plus goods on the ‘nude’ shelves with their pre-packaged counterparts and found most of them were slightly cheaper by a few rand than their pre-packaged counterparts.
There were our top picks:
*Prices as of 5 July, 2019 and per kilogram comparison.
Buying loose chillies are much cheaper.
Chillies, green and red:
Packaged: R199.80
Naked: R44.99
Saving: R154.81
Green beans are a steal.
Green Beans
Packaged: R48.31 (600g) and R65.69 (350g)
Naked: R44.99
Saving: R3.32 (600g) or R20.70 (350g)
Loose mushrooms are almost R30 cheaper than their pre-packaged counterparts.
Brown and Portabellini Mushrooms
Packaged: R119.96
Naked: R89.99
Saving: R29.97
The ever-popular Palermo peppers, which brings life to salads and pizzas, are R37 cheaper per kilogram.
Palermo peppers
Packaged: R97.03
Naked: R59.99
Saving R37.04
Stores participating in the ‘nude’ fruit and vegetable produce wall trial:
- Claremont
- Gardens
- Faerie Glen Hyper
- Bedfordview
- Benmore
- Waterfront
- Kenilworth
- Pinelands
- Hyper Durban North
- Longbeach Mall
- Glen Garry
- PnP On Nicol
- Constantia
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