Ugly fruit saving the planet
New Zealanders have eaten 500 tonnes of imperfect produce since the launch of Countdown’s The Odd Bunch in 2017.
Food systems expert Emily King said offering consumers odd or misshapen fruit was a good strategy to raise awareness that food does not have to look perfect to eat it.
The sale of imperfect produce is being pushed in Australia, as drought and devastating wildfires leave farmers with smaller than usual crops.
Supermarkets Coles and Woolworths have begun to stock spotty tomatoes and slightly deformed apples as part of a push to support drought and fireaffected growers amid concerns over the deteriorating fruit and vegetable supply. The introduction of imperfect produce was one way to address New Zealand’s food waste problem, King said.
A 2019 RaboBank survey found about 12 per cent of all household food bought in New Zealand went to waste, amounting to an estimated $1.17 billion worth of food wasted each year. Food that went to landfill due to imperfections or spoilage produced methane gas, a greenhouse gas 24 times more potent than CO2, King said.
Since launching three years ago, Countdown’s Odd Bunch range has diverted 500 tonnes of produce from the waste stream.
In the first two years, the supermarket chain sold 15 million apples, over a million kilos of kumara and more than 6 million capsicums under the Odd Bunch label. Figures for 2019 were unavailable.
Steve Sexton, Countdown’s head of produce, said not only did the range reduce food waste by taking produce from growers which would have otherwise ended up in landfill but it also made healthy food more affordable.
‘‘Globally one-third of all food produced is wasted which is hugely detrimental to the environment but also costs everyone in the supply chain, from growers right through to customers,’’ Sexton said.
‘‘For a long time, people have favoured perfect-looking produce but times really are changing.’’
The biggest consumers of The Odd Bunch were customers in Dargaville, Kerikeri and Mt Eden, Sexton said.