With more than 1 billion meals thrown into landfills around the world every day, there is no doubt that people need new ways to reduce food waste.
Now, scientists say they may have a solution – offering labeled ‘sad’ foods to help us feel better.
Sad-looking banana cartons encourage sales of the fruit when it’s out of stock, according to a new experiment in German supermarkets.
When people go shopping for bananas, most prefer to pick up one banana instead of multiple bananas, according to researchers.
This consumer preference means that one banana is overlooked, tends to turn black and is discarded, leading to a food spoilage problem.
Research shows we feel sorry for food it is threatened with being thrown into the barn, but this can be mitigated by giving it a ‘good home’ – our stomachs.
‘The need to belong is one of the most powerful human motivations,’ said study author Dr Lisa Eckmann of the University of Bath’s retail lab.
‘Injecting the sadness of the bachelor, stray bananas evoke a sympathetic response from consumers.’
In the photos, ‘sad’ banana signs have been placed above a single banana to encourage consumers to buy the fruit in a store in Germany. Translated from German, the banana sign reads: ‘We are sad singles and want to buy again’
According to the UN, the world wastes 1.05 billion tonnes of food a year – a figure expected to double by 2030 – and households on all continents waste more than 1 billion tonnes of food a day.
This is a major environmental problem because when leftover food decomposes, it releases methane gas, a powerful gas that causes global warming.
As part of an attempt to tackle this problem, Dr Eckmann worked with researchers in Germany to investigate the effects of ‘point-of-sale anthropomorphism’ – saying that human behavior is something to be sold.
At a large German grocery store called REWE, they put a single banana on the shelf and put different symbols in front of it – ‘happy single’, ‘sad single’ and ‘untouchable’.
The ‘Happy singles’ poster featured a banana with a smiley face saying: ‘We are happy singles that want to be bought again’.
Meanwhile, the ‘sad singles’ sign featured a sad looking banana that read: ‘We are sad singles and we want to be bought too.’
Finally, the ‘unsatisfied’ had no face at all but had the words: ‘Here is one banana that needs to be bought again.’
The experiment was conducted for eight days for 12 hours each in two supermarkets of the same type, providing 192 hours of data collection.
In the store, one banana was given one of three symbols – ‘happy singles’, ‘sad singles’ and ‘unemotional’.
Faced with a pile of unsold bananas, retailers can encourage customers to buy the overlooked fruit by giving them attention.
In total, the researchers secretly observed the banana purchases of 3,810 customers within 192 hours.
On average, one banana sold per hour was 2.02 when the faceless and indifferent banana sign was shown.
An interesting sign, meanwhile, resulted in an average of 2.13 bananas sold per hour – a slight increase in sales.
However, the sad banana symbol resulted in an average of 3.19 bananas sold per hour – a 58 percent increase compared to the ‘no emotion’ symbol.
This shows that consumers are sympathetic to the inanimate objects in the store – even the food they later take home and eat.
Previous research has shown that one banana is the biggest source of climate and food waste for retailers.
Current food waste prevention strategies list one banana as a food source to avoid.
Although overripe brown and black bananas may not look like yellow bananas, they are still safe to eat – as long as there are no mold or signs of decay (such as a funky smell).
Another online survey showed that people prefer to buy sad tomatoes instead of happy tomatoes. Unlike bananas, these have not been tested in actual supermarkets
However, the researchers also found that discounting the produce was more effective than negative cues in getting people to choose one banana.
Another online survey showed that people prefer to buy sad tomatoes instead of happy tomatoes.
However, actual store testing may be needed to confirm that the results extend to popular salad dressings, as well as other foods.
Previous research has looked at the impact of anthropomorphism on increasing consumer acceptance of imperfect produce, such as ‘wonky’ fruit and veg.
However, this is the first study to look at the effects of anthropomorphism on bananas separated from the group or tomatoes free from the vine.
The new study, published in the journal Psychology & Marketingit can help supermarkets around the world avoid unnecessary food waste and increase sales.
‘As far as we know, this is the first study to compare happy and sad sounds on bananas separated from their pile to see how they affect sales,’ said Dr Eckmann.
‘The problem with one banana is well known and this discovery is helping to boost sales and reduce food waste in our supermarkets.
‘This research shows that it’s a simple, cost-effective, and practical solution for retailers and policymakers.’
