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Coles customers call out “impossible” meat packaging

Shoppers have called out Coles over their vacuum-sealed meat saying the tight packaging is “almost impossible” to open.

One confused customer took to Facebook to share their concerns about how much trouble they’d put themselves through trying to open their scotch fillet steak.

“Any tips on opening these new hard plastic vacuum sealed meat packages?” asked the upset shopper, who attached a picture of the tightly-sealed produce they’d had trouble getting open.

“I tried with scissors and it’s almost impossible. The plastic is sealed right up the edge of the meat, so can’t just cut around the clear plastic parts, have to go right up to the meat.

Hi Coles team. Any tips on opening these new hard plastic vacuum sealed meat packages? I tried with scissors and it’s...

Posted by Freedy Anders on Thursday, January 2, 2020

“The plastic edges become really sharp. Appreciate any tips.”

He wasn’t the only customer to come up against the same issue however, as many came to the post on the Coles’ Facebook page to point out the major problems of the seemingly inflexible packaging.

“I really like your steaks but unfortunately I can’t get into the packet,” one wrote.

Another shopper explained they had worries older people might slip and cut themselves, especially if they suffered from stiffness.

“For older folk with arthritic hands it’s near impossible to get into,” another said.

Shoppers in another post pointed out that not only was the new packaging difficult to open, it was also more wasteful.

One person said while they applauded the store for its bring-your-own shopping bags initiative, extra packaging on meat was “madness”.

“A tiny piece of steak on this packing with NO recycling symbol?’ a disgruntled customer asked.

“Tiny little steak and massive plastic packaging – c’mon Coles you can do better than that,” said another.

Some shoppers even went on to offer the supermarket giant solutions for how they might improve the packaging.

“Any chance of an opening pull strip built into the packaging?” one asked.

A Coles spokesperson told news.com.au the supermarket had been using vacuum-sealed packaging on their meat produce for the past five years, and that it was a process that improves the “tenderness”.

“Coles has used vacuum-sealed packaging for our popular Coles Finest and Graze fresh meat ranges for the past five years,” they said.

“This packaging increases the tenderness of the beef and lamb, which improves the eating quality.

“Coles values customer feedback and we are reviewing how we package the meat to make it easier for customers to open, including easy-peel options and introducing cardboard into the packaging.”

The spokesperson for Coles also reportedly told news.com.au that Aldi and Woolies used similar methods to package their meats.

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Coles, meat, plastic, plastic packaging, packaging, meat packaging, supermarket, customers, shopping