why would you call this “weird?” i think it’s pretty cool!

Posted at 11:10 am on Nov 5th, 2009 by andrew

agreed

Posted at 11:11 am on Nov 5th, 2009 by ino

the problem here is that for some applications of fruit, you dont want permanent engravings on your peel. like if you are using it for decor or doing some sort of food art thing with it.

Posted at 11:27 am on Nov 5th, 2009 by peter

yeah i dont see whats weird about this

Posted at 11:27 am on Nov 5th, 2009 by Taylor

This works for fruit with thick skin but what about apples and the sorts? Won’t this pierce the skin?

Posted at 11:35 am on Nov 5th, 2009 by Hackius

@peter: it could also add to the visual by putting designs and stuff other than the logo on the fruit.

I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing huge ads for stuff other than the fruit company’s logo.

Laser etched fruit, you know your in the future when.

Posted at 11:42 am on Nov 5th, 2009 by jjrh

Old news. They have been doing this on apples for well over a year. It damages the fruit less.

Posted at 12:01 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by Tim

how long till we see hamburger buns burned with lasers with the McDonalds Logo lol

Posted at 12:01 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by hyperjer

Looks pretty cool, but I wonder if you could do barcodes with it, since stickers are sometimes used for that.

Posted at 12:37 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by Mark

that means a flood of cheap affordable portable laser etchers form China – awesome!

Posted at 1:37 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by rasz

Yeah this was trialed in New Zealand about a year ago and people didn’t like it for all sorts of reasons so we went back to the crappy stickers. I quite liked the laser engraving personally.

Posted at 1:40 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by kiwi

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10352393

Posted at 1:43 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by kiwi

I’d personally miss the stick-on fruit labels. I’ve collected them for years; my microwave oven is completely covered with veggie stickers. Now I’m working on filling up other surfaces. Its kind of like looking into the past… a big cluster of mango stickers (yum) brings back memories of summer.

Posted at 1:59 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by eric archer

@hyperjer:
no,no,no. much better: imagine rounding up cattle for branding, each cowboy equipped with a shoulder mounted co2-laser.
but as for apples: id’like to eat the skin -unbranded.

Posted at 2:10 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by tantris

what’s wrong w/the stickers? both the sticker, ink, and adhesive are safe to eat.

Posted at 2:51 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by happy gilmore

Paintballs are also safe to eat, but I don’t like eating those either.

I approve, although the apple thing does bring up a good point.

If the skin isn’t normally eaten, it should be etched, otherwise etching of others is optional.

Posted at 4:12 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by _matt

WHAT AN EXCELLENT HACK YOU HAVE HERE SIRS.

Posted at 9:33 pm on Nov 5th, 2009 by mars

IT IS NOT USED IN NZ!!!
It was used for about a month, and then it was dropped. I only ever saw one apple with the name engraved on the side.

Posted at 12:42 am on Nov 6th, 2009 by JavaNut13

I seem to remember recently Kellogs had trialled branding their cornflakes with their logo.

Personally, i’m not in favor of this (but i do think it’s cool). A lot of fruit is hand picked and packaged. Lasering fruit would involve much more machine-handling would it not? and much more handling in general before being packaged?

I love my fruit stickers! but do i love lasers more…?

Posted at 2:39 pm on Nov 6th, 2009 by TalkingJazz

Huh?
I find the stickers come off easily, maybe the American stickers are just cheap then :P

Posted at 4:48 pm on Nov 6th, 2009 by SoulSalmon

The sticker is called a PLU.

Posted at 3:18 pm on Nov 8th, 2009 by Legato

I think it would be better to use an electrically heated branding iron. It could even be made from a soldiering iron tip. (I think)

Posted at 11:36 pm on Nov 9th, 2009 by James