A New Zealand company is rolling out a new labelling method, which it believes could signal the end of plastic stickers on fruits and vegetables.

Natural Light Technology has licensed a new environment-friendly way to label fresh produce and expects to release the product across Australasia this summer.

Using a concentrated beam of light it removes the pigment from the outer layer of skin of the fruit or vegetable, revealing a contrasting colour underneath. This method can be used to etch type, variety, PLU, place of origin, even brands, logos or dates on the pigment of an individual piece of fresh produce.

The innovation responds to consumer concern and complaints that stickers can be hard to remove, need to be disposed of, and can leave a sticky residue on the produce.

The new label is totally natural and therefore edible.

Inventor of the light labelling technique Greg Drouillard, said the method is already widely used in the US, and being introduced across Canada and Mexico.

“It’s easier and more convenient for consumers, more effective for retailers and more efficient and cheaper with less waste for growers and packers,” said Drouillard. “It’s also been very well received by government agencies in these countries because it is tamperproof - anyone can swap a plastic sticker, but once the fresh produce is labelled using light technology it can’t be removed or altered, so an individual piece of produce can be tracked and traced.”

The technique does not alter the fresh produce in any way, he stressed.

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