The new additive lengthens that ripe window, but warning: it also means the fruit takes at least twice as long to ripen — so if you buy an unripe one, your avocado will have to sit on the counter for a while.
Other companies have tried to come up with different solutions. In the UK, the grocery chain Tesco recently launched a new plastic packaging that extends an avocado’s shelf life by two days, but it is neither recyclable or compostable.Apeel’s powder is made from fats found in the peels, seeds, and pulp of all different kinds of fruits and vegetables that often get tossed after harvest, according to the company. It is colorless, odorless, tasteless.
The label on Del Rey’s new avocado will not list the coating as an ingredient, but it will bear the Apeel logo. This is the first Apeel-treated product on the market.
Globally, $2.6 trillion worth of food is wasted every year, but “Apeel has more implications than just food waste. It also saves energy, water, and raises the nutritional profile,” the company said in an emailed statement. It has raised $40 million in funding to date.
Venessa Wong is a business reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. Wong covers the food industry.
Contact Venessa Wong at venessa.wong@buzzfeed.com.
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Original source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/venessawong/long-lasting-avocados-apeel-costco.
