SAINSBURY’S shoppers are only just realising the retailer has made a big change – and some aren’t happy about it at all.
One of the UK’s largest supermarket chains changed the packaging on its beef mince in a bid to help the environment.
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The meat is now contained in vacuum-sealed plastic which it says uses 55% less plastic.
Sainsbury’s has since added messaging on to the packaging clarifying why it has made the move.
It says: “New minced beef packaging.
“Same quality product. So, our new packaging looks pretty different.
“But if it’s using 55% less plastic, saving over 450 tonnes a year, we say it’s a sight to behold.”
However, the change has caused some controversy amongst customers, who say the new packaging is making the meat clump together.
And some are only just realising about the change.
Posting on the Reduce Your Supermarket Spend Facebook group, one customer said: “Since when has mince been vacuumed packed in Sainsbury’s.”
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The post has received a flurry of messages from fellow shoppers who aren’t so keen on the change.
One said: “It’s OK, I didn’t really notice a difference in taste when it was cooked. It’s an absolute pain to break up though. It’s so dense!”
Meanwhile, a second shopper said: “I always bought my mince from here but not now, it doesn’t cook right, it’s lumpy.”
A third disgruntled customer added: “It’s disgusting all lumpy it’s so vacuumed it’s pasty yuk , I go to the butchers it’s so nice.”
Previously, Sainsbury’s beef mince was packaged in a plastic tray with a film lid that meant the meat could move around.
The amount of meat in the new-style packaging is unchanged and it currently costs £2.49 for a 20% fat 500g pack on Sainsbury’s website.
It comes after the retailer removed single-use plastic trays from its whole chicken range.
The birds are now covered in recyclable film, impacting all five products in the range.
All 600 Sainsbury’s stores, plus online orders for delivery and click and collect, have implemented the change.
It’s not just meat packaging that Sainsbury’s has changed in a bid to help the environment.
In 2019, it removed plastic bags on fruit and veg in stores, with reusable drawstring bags now costing 30p.
Alongside a host of other supermarkets, it removed plastic lids on bottle cartons too.
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