A food expert has revealed why a popular fruit always seems to be sold in a specific type of packaging. It might seem strange but selling oranges in a red mesh bag actually makes them more appealing to shoppers.
In a video uploaded to social media platform TikTok, food technology expert and author Miguel A. Lurueña revealed what it is about this packaging that makes us more likely to buy the fruit. Speaking to his thousands of followers, he said: “Have you noticed that oranges are always sold in red mesh bags? It’s no coincidence.”
As reported by Spanish news site El Confidencial, the aim is to enhance the natural colour of the food and make it more attractive to the consumer’s eyes. This aesthetic decision actually directly plays with our visual perception
According to Lurueña, who is from Spain, it is a supermarket trick based on a phenomenon known as the Munker illusion, named after German researcher Franz Carl Munker in the 1970s. This optical illusion causes the colour we perceive of an object to be altered by the colours surrounding it.
In his video, Lurueña shows a visual example. In an image created by himself, the same fruit appears to have more intense shades when crossed by red lines. “The fruit in the middle seems much more orange than the other two due to the red lines passing over it,” he said.