Makro's ripeness stickers make 'overripe' produce sellable

A large share of Colombia's food waste is fruit and vegetables, and the cause is as much perception as logistics: consumers assume a banana that has gone brown is no longer usable and discard it or leave it unsold. For a cash-and-carry wholesaler like Makro, that early rejection means shrinking the window in which produce can generate revenue.

Makro and Grey Colombia made the ripeness itself the message. Their Life Extending Stickers look like ordinary produce labels but change colour with the fruit's own ripening, and each colour carries a serving suggestion - so a banana's sticker runs from green to yellow to brown to black, paired with fried, ice cream, tempura and cupcake, telling shoppers how to use the fruit at every stage.

Because the sticker sits directly on the produce and needs no app or scanning, it removes the barrier between the idea and the act. The same brown banana that used to be a loss becomes an invitation to make something, and the store can bring produce in earlier and keep it selling longer. It is a low-tech, low-cost media space that changes behaviour where it happens.