This week we are starting something that I believe will do a lot of good for our hard working farmers and you, our loyal customers.
Every day, thousands of tonnes of fresh, delicious and perfectly good eating fruit and veg never leaves the farm gate because of minor visual imperfections. According to our friends at Horticulture Australia at least 277,700 tonnes of the major fruit and vegetable lines (which represents around 25% of production), is wasted each year in Australia. I think you’ll agree that this is an astounding statistic. This is bad for the environment. Bad for the farmers and it makes food more expensive for everyone.
It’s become increasingly obvious to us that Australia is facing a big problem with food waste, and how we buy fruit and vegetables needs to change. We also know Australian families are concerned about their cost of living, with a recent Choice survey finding ‘77% are worried about the cost of groceries*.
We are always looking for ways to deliver better value to our customers and ensure our growers are getting a fair deal. So we are going to do our bit to help. From this week we’re launching our new Imperfect Picks range. It’s the fruit and veggies that are just as tasty and fresh as ever, that would have otherwise been thrown out for not looking perfect. Imperfect Picks is an Australia first initiative, and it’s one we are very proud of. It’s good for our farmers, good for families and it’s good for the environment too. We are offering this range in all of our stores and online for up to 50% cheaper than our regular range. It is our hope that through this campaign, we encourage Australians and the big supermarkets to rethink what’s important when buying fruit and vegetables.
With your help we can REDUCE food waste, HELP the farmers and SAVE you money.
Watch our video below and see what Neil Perry and Mike McEnerney have to say about food wastage in Australia. Help us start the conversation about reducing food wastage today #IMPERFECTPICKS
- Tristan Harris
*Choice Cost of Living Report, August 2014 http://www.choice.com.au/media-and-news/consumer-news/news/choice-cost-of-living-report-highlights-tough-times-for-many.aspx
