When Twitter gets mad, it’s hard to ignore.
That’s why when users on the social media site became infuriated with Whole Foods (WFM) for selling pre-peeled oranges packaged in plastic, it only took a few hours for the organic food market to pull the product from shelves. It began with a tweet by Nathalie Gordon showing a picture with a facetious comment about plastic waste.
If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn't need to waste so much plastic on them. pic.twitter.com/00YECaHB4D
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) March 3, 2016
The decision to package peeled oranges in plastic is particularly surprising coming from Whole Foods, which lists practicing and advancing environmental stewardship as one of its eight core values. That includes “reducing waste and consumption of non-renewable resources,” including plastic.
Gordon’s picture was favorited and retweeted over 60,000 times and written about in various online publications. While many people agreed with her that it was a complete and unnecessary waste of plastic, and therefore environmentally irresponsible, others did argue that the pre-peeled product is necessary for certain consumers, particularly the elderly and disabled.
@awlilnatty Definitely our mistake. These have been pulled. We hear you, and we will leave them in their natural packaging: the peel.
— Whole Foods Market (@WholeFoods) March 3, 2016
Whole Foods responded to Gordon in a tweet announcing that the product had been pulled.
