• Dutch natural supermarket chain EkoPlaza has launched a plastic-free grocery store aisle. What looks like plastic in this photo is actually biodegradeable biofilm. (Photo: EkoPlaza)
    Dutch natural supermarket chain EkoPlaza has launched a plastic-free grocery store aisle. What looks like plastic in this photo is actually biodegradeable biofilm. (Photo: EkoPlaza)
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A 'world-first' retail experiment involving a supermarket aisle free of plastic has been launched in Amsterdam.

More than 700 products are now available without plastic packaging in the aisle, which has been set up in a new metro-sized pilot store of supermarket chain Ekoplaza.

The products include meat, rice, sauces, dairy, chocolate, cereals, fruit and vegetables.

The environmental campaign group behind the idea, A Plastic Planet, said the aisle was a “landmark moment” in the global fight against plastic pollution.

Co-founder Sian Sutherland has called for more supermarkets globally to follow Ekoplaza’s lead.

Iceland has pledged to go plastic-free on all its own-brand packaging by 2023, and in the Netherlands, Ekoplaza will roll out plastic-free aisles across its 74 branches by the end of this year.

The aisle will be used to test out new compostable bio-materials, as well as using traditional materials including glass, metal and cardboard, the scheme’s backers said.

Goods within the aisle will carry the Plastic Free Mark, a label introduced by A Plastic Planet to help shoppers identify products that are free of plastic packaging.

Food & Drink Business

More than 80 distillers from across New South Wales and the ACT will meet in Sydney on 25 November for the inaugural NSW & ACT Distillers Conference, where the industry will formally launch Spirits NSW.

The federal government has announced the inaugural members of the National Food Council, the first step in developing its national food security strategy, Feeding Australia. The council includes representatives from across the food system and will play an advisory role to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry minister.

Queensland foodservice wholesaler Prime Cut Meats has been acquired by Andrews Meat Industries (AMI), the family-managed business that forms part of JBS Australia. The move expands AMI’s protein supply capabilities in Queensland and northern New South Wales.