Grey: Makro’s Life Extending Stickers

The issue of food waste in supermarkets is widespread, especially with fruits and vegetables which are often discarded prematurely due to their appearance. To address this issue and to help Makro stores in Colombia achieve its sustainability objectives, Grey Colombia worked with the brand to introduce Life Extending Stickers. Aimed at promoting sustainability and challenging the misconception that ripeness equates to spoilage, these stickers seamlessly integrated with the traditional retail experience of stickering fresh produce.

The stickers mirror the colour progression of each fruit or vegetable’s ripening process, offering the customers cooking suggestions at each stage. For example, a banana's sticker transitions from green to black, featuring serving ideas like ice cream, tempura, and cupcakes.

Launched in April 2023, the stickers were used in 22 Makro stores across Colombia and since then the stores have been promoting it with printed material and digital organic posts. Alongside the in-store campaign, Makro's Instagram showcased recipes encouraging consumers to explore different culinary possibilities with ripened fruits and vegetables.

The simple yet innovative campaign successfully reshaped perspectives on ripeness and empowered consumers to make sustainable choices, with the campaign extending the average lifespan of produce acquired by the Makro customers since the launching of the campaign and reducing food waste in stores and homes. The initiative earned a Gold Lion at the 2023 Cannes Lions Festival, a Grand Lia and four Gold awards at the LIA awards, a Gold award at El Dorado 2023, a Gold award at FIAP, a major award 'Gran Ojo' at the El Ojo de Iberoamérica, the International Grand Prix at the Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards 2023 and a Best In Show award at the Communication Arts.

In addition, the campaign generated more than 85,000 interactions on social networks and reached an audience of 264 million through organic articles in more than 25 countries.