LIFE EXTENDING STICKERS

About the Work According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the National Department of Planning, only in Colombia 6.1 million tons of food are wasted each year, and 40% of those are fruits and vegetables. As an answer to this problem, Makro Supermarkets under their sustainability pilar, set an objective to not only help at their stores, but to educate consumers on preventing food waste in a cheap and easy way in 22 of its shops. We used a media that has existed for decades in the fruit and vegetable industry: The Fruit Sticker. We gave it a real purpose: To prevent food waste by extending their life cycles suggesting recipes based on the fruit's ripeness and color, especially in their most ripe stages cause that’s when people avoid their consumption for cosmetic reasons. That’s why we created the Life Extending Stickers. Printed in its traditional size of 2.7 mm, printed in biodegradable material, ecological ink, with no need of technology only the help of colors, we showed Colombians an easy way for them to use their fruits and vegetables from begining to end. Makro gave Colombians an anti-waste tool that also helps them save money because preventing food waste helps save cash. We created 5 stickers for fruits and vegetables that according to data from the (DNP) national Department of Planning are the fruits and vegetables most wasted: Tomato - Banana - Avocado - Mango and Papaya. The stickers were stuck, and the supermarket exhibition was modified according to their colors or ripeness level and a strategy of pricing associated with their ripeness: More ripe, it’s cheaper. Using the brand's own media and social media, we invited clients to visit shops to live a new experience of saving money and sustainability. At the shops, clients were guided to visit the fruit and vegetable section where they were received by promoters that explained how the sticker worked and what recipes they could prepare by visiting the brand's Instagram account. The clients enjoyed tastings of the recipes to demonstrate their freshness even if the fruits and vegetables are in their ripest stage.