French supermarket displays 'ugly produce' to reduce food waste
Customers rarely see imperfect fruit and vegetables鈥攖he bent cucumber, the two-legged carrot, even the heart-shaped potato鈥攂ecause they are tossed away long before they reach supermarket shelves. But this year, French supermarket chain,听, decided to feature these so-called ugly fruits and vegetables in their stores (in an effort to reduce food waste).
The campaign,听Quoi ma gueule?聽(What鈥檚 wrong with my face?), was promoted over a two-day test period in March in 滨苍迟别谤尘补谤肠丑茅 stores鈥�France鈥檚 third largest supermarket chain鈥攊n the north-central town of聽.
Each year, approximately聽聽of total food produced for human consumption, is wasted. The聽聽estimates the amount of food lost or wasted is equivalent to聽.
滨苍迟别谤尘补谤肠丑茅 gave the ugly vegetables their own catwalk鈥攁 dedicated area with their own labeling in the supermarket. The broader advertising campaign,听聽starred Clementine, the unfortunate mandarin, who informed consumers that her imperfections were聽
Recognizing internal beauty was central to the campaign. 滨苍迟别谤尘补谤肠丑茅 used the ugly foods in recipes to show consumers that there is no difference in the quality of the product when compared to better looking produce.
滨苍迟别谤尘补谤肠丑茅 priced the ugly vegetables at reduced prices鈥�30 percent lower鈥� compared to the standard produce to encourage sales.聽聽explained one advertisement from 滨苍迟别谤尘补谤肠丑茅, created by聽. The company saw聽聽the average sale per store, and an increase in store traffic of聽.
Globally, there are similar supermarket initiatives working to educate consumers about ugly produce. In Britain,听聽has a聽聽fruit line; and聽,聽is a cooperative in Portugal, selling ugly produce.
