All Good Banana Tape

Why do All Good Bananas need tape?

Let’s be clear, we hate our tape! But supermarkets require a barcode on each of our delicious Fairtrade banana bunches. Only the non-Fairtrade suppliers can sell their bananas loose! You can find our bananas loose in places like Moore Wilson’s (who are long-term supporters of All Good) as we are their main banana supplier.

Can I recycle the tape?

Yes, you can recycle All Good Banana tape! Our tape is classified as soft plastic recyclable. You can drop off soft plastics at most supermarkets, where they will be collected and sent to Future Post who recycle soft plastics into premium fencing products right here in NZ.

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What are the biggest challenges in finding an alternative?

When looking for an alternative tape that differentiates our Fairtrade bananas from conventional bananas, we need to ensure the following:

Strength: Our tape needs to be strong because sometimes, people will try to pull the tape off All Good Bananas and put them through the checkouts at a lower price. Our Fairtrade bananas are a different price to conventional bananas because we pay fair prices to our growers.

Water-resistant: Our bananas are washed in Ecuador, so they remain wet for their three-week journey to NZ and hit supermarket shelves at peak freshness. Any alternative we find must be waterproof, so the barcode doesn’t tear or disintegrate.

Volume: We bring in a large quantity of bunches every week, and every bunch of All Good Bananas is wrapped by hand! Any alternative must be quick and efficient to handle the more than 80,000 bunches we bring in each week.

What options have we explored?

So far, we’ve tried:

Dipping in wax
Lasering
Recycled sugarcane (bagasse)
Mixed recycled paper
Paper based tape
Compostable tape
Cardboard based tape

So, what now?

We continue to actively research and trial alternative tape options with our suppliers. We will keep you posted on any significant developments or breakthroughs.