To the editor:
reading the Page 2 column for close to two years now and I enjoy it very much. In a recent edition (Feb. 6, 1995) I was intrigued by the quotes of Wayne Calloway, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo., Purchase, N.Y., because I strongly agreed with him. In particular his point that consumers want solutions. Then, on Page 13, I was reading the article about retailers "...becoming sticklers over stickers," and I was impressed and confused about the amount of energy and money that stores are requiring suppliers to invest in labeling each item of fruit. Has anyone asked the consumer what he/she thinks? I took an informal poll at work (inspired by my own strong feelings) and it is unanimous: We hate those stickers. They are fine on bananas or oranges or other peelable fruits, but on apples, tomatoes, pears, etc. they are a nightmare to remove, taking skin with them and obstructing the cleaning process. Often my tomatoes have two stickers on them, and I find myself shedding a quarter of the skin to remove them. I am sure there are better solutions out there. How about placing a wheel of stickers next to the fruit piles and allowing consumers to place a sticker on the outside of the bag of fruit. This will save the industry money and the consumer grief.
