What’s going through your mind when you go through the produce aisle at your local supermarket? For many of us, we’re picking up packages of this, and packages of that with our minds firmly on getting the very best version of what we need, as fast as possible. (Because who actually enjoys the weekly shop?)
Produce is a very far cry from packaged and processed goods – While indeed a packet of vegetables or a cut of meat is very much the same thing in terms of weight and overall appearance, there are natural variances to produce which causes some people to turn away and some people to purchase. We turn them upside down, all around, and this way and that in order to analyse produce, in order to get exactly what we want for our money.
Food retailers know above all that appearance is one of the most important things when it comes to making a sale. Food retailers also know the pain that comes with unsold produce more keenly than most other retailers, due to the non-permanent nature of their stock.
Did you know that LED Lighting such as LED Strip Lights have recently been proven to extend the lifespan of meat products, which in turn can help supermarkets and smaller shops alike?
No-one likes the wasted revenue associated with trashing products that are perfectly fine but look older than what they are. The link between Halogen and CFL light sources and the premature aging of produce is proven – the light and also the heat from this lighting tends to take quite a toll on the appearance of products.
Our colleagues at the LED Choice Guide explain just how lighting is imperative for keeping foodstuffs looking appealing.
It’s proven that traditional lighting sources can make meat and other foodstuffs look old and unappealing, even if they’re perfectly fine. This is partially due to the type of light being beamed at your foodstuff, as well as the heat that the light emits as a waste product.
That, and C02 being blasted at food can lead to discolouration and generally quite an icky feeling as you handle it. C02 emissions in lighting is absolutely no joke, and LED Lighting is a way to provide appealing lighting that allows your customer to shop in comfort, as well as bring interest with it. That, and LED Lighting doesn’t emit harmful C02 or heat.
The science behind the aging process associated with other forms of lighting is all down to myoglobin (essentially – the protein which is responsible for meat pigmentation) and lipid oxidation occurring as result of being blasted with lighting.
Fluorescent lighting causes myoglobin to deteriorate far quicker than LED Lighting, which of course is the reason why things often can look past their prime in the space of a day or two. Retailers will be forced to throw out perfectly good foodstuffs far sooner when using older fluorescent lighting.
Heat is also an issue – essentially, traditional lights half-cook products as they sit on the shelves.
It stands to good sense is the fact that food wastage is a gigantic problem.
A tremendous one actually, and given enormous global pressure for gargantuan companies to cut down on their waste it’s no wonder that large chain restaurants, coffee shops, supermarkets and grocers all have elected to invest in their physical stores and provide LED lighting in place of old, hot, and dusty C02 spewing lamps.
Smaller retailers would do very well to follow suit now that the prices of LED products have fallen to the point where retrofitting any shop is extremely financially viable. It’ll increase your profits, your customer satisfaction, and after all – food is a precious resource, and wastage is absolutely unacceptable when there are people within this world that go without what we throw away.