Tesco is set to make a significant change to the fruit and veg aisle in stores.
The UK supermarket giant has announced plans to trial in-store avocado scanners, aimed at helping customers assess the ripeness of avocados before purchase.
The machines, which will be installed in five stores this week, use infrared technology to determine the fruit's ripeness.
The process is simple; customers hold an avocado in front of the scanner which then returns one of two readings - immediately ready for smashing, or suitable for slicing and adding to a salad.
This new technology is called the One Third Avocado Scanner, named after the Dutch company that invented it.
Lisa Lawrence, Tesco's avocado buyer, told PA: "The scanner will enable shoppers to choose the avocado that is right for them and which therefore can help them plan their usage and desired shelf life, thereby cutting down on waste."
She further added: "Smashed avocado on sourdough continues to be one of the trendiest snacks at the moment, garnering millions of views on social media sites for recipe ideas, so we think, for that reason, the scanner will be really popular with shoppers."
The selected Tesco stores that will trial these innovative scanners include Cheshunt Extra in Hertfordshire, Colchester Superstore in Essex, Stratford-upon-Avon Superstore in Warwickshire, Wokingham Superstore in Berkshire, and Salisbury Extra in Wiltshire.
This move comes in light of data released by the supermarket which shows a surge in the popularity of avocados.
Tesco reportedly sold nearly 15 million more avocados in the last year than the previous one.
Tesco worked on this project with global avocado supplier Westfalia Fruit, a firm based in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
Emma Howes, commercial manager at Westfalia Fruit, said the scanner is "just one of the many initiatives we've worked on over the past year."
She mentioned other initiatives include trialling lasered avocados to eliminate the plastic label currently used on the fruit, and the introduction of cardboard and paper packaging across Tesco's pre-packed avocado lines.
All these measures are expected to save "20 million pieces of plastic a year."
In other Tesco-related news, the supermarket's mobile app recently experienced technical issues.
The issues were reported on the outage tracking site, Downdetector, with one frustrated customer posting on X: "Can't spend my money!"
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