Why Tricky Grocery Store Tactic of Fruit in Rubber, Mesh-Like Bags Works

Walking through the produce section of a grocery store is so invigorating. All the bright colors of various fruits and even the smells sometimes tickle our noses. I've even found myself weaving between the fruit displays even when fruit isn't on my shopping list.

Sometimes, you pick and choose our oranges, plums, or grapefruit individually since you only need a couple. Other times, the supermarket has already bagged them in those brightly colored rubbery mesh bags.

Red, orange, yellow, or green are the most common mesh bags, and they definitely jump out at us.

But why these particular bags?

According to the Diario AS website, it's all about imaging and marketing. Whether it's lemons, tangerines, or oranges, the bright mesh grabs our attention because it literally makes the fruit look brighter.

This phenomenon is known as the Munker or Munker-White optical illusion. Through the superimposition of colors, one stands out more than the other. In the case of the bag of oranges, the colors in front enhance the tones of the citrus fruits that come inside these red mesh bags.

According to the Live Science website, this optical illusion means we perceive shapes, in this case, the fruit, with more detail. This is because the color of the fruit gets pulled closer to the color of the mesh crossing over each other, and according to Diario AS, voila, this optical illusion makes the fruit more vibrant and delicious looking.

Such a sneaky, tricky tactic.  According to the Tasting Table website, red is the most popular with oranges.

The red tones against the color orange creates a phantasm that tells the brain the color of the fruit is more vivid than ever.

However, even when the fruit and mesh are the same color, the bag brightens the fruit.