"Laser avocado" sounds like a Doritos flavor, but it's actually a packaging technique being trialed by Tesco. In a bid to reduce packaging waste, the UK supermarket chain is laser-etching avocados rather than using barcode stickers. And for their avocado products that come in twin packs, they're ditching the plastic tray in favor of cardboard.

Tesco supplier Westfalia fruit, who possess the laser-etching equipment, say they've "conducted extensive trials to ensure the quality, shelf life and taste of the fruit is not affected."

Tesco is rolling the laser-etched avocados out in a 270-store trial. If customers are happy with it, the practice will go Tesco-wide. The results of that would be substantial:

If rolled out across all stores, the moves, made jointly with the UK's main avocado supplier, Westfalia Fruit, based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, could save:

- More than 20 million pieces of plastic tray packaging from the twin pack avocado alone, increasing up to 25 million pieces across the pre-packed range

- Nearly a million plastic stickers on its loose extra large avocados (information based on current sales information, provided by Westfalia Fruit)

Tesco sells some 70 million avocados a year, and they report that last year