Laura Sandys, the Conservative MP for South Thanet, unveiled her Ugly Food Company this week to acclaim from the national press, and The Daily Telegraph in particular, which is running a competition to find the business its own strapline.
Sandys’ venture has been launched to buy food rejected by the UK multiples on aesthetic grounds, with the aim of selling it on to consumers. The idea is to start with fresh produce and possibly extend into meat and fish. “I have been doing policy papers on food security in the wider sense looking at international production, commodity markets and then supermarket prices,” she explains. “I have been looking at how we would manage increasing food costs and part of that is looking at how we manage waste in the supply chain.”
Sandys then looked around farms in her constituency and was particularly struck by seeing “beautiful apples” being rejected in a Kent orchard and destined for juicing at a fraction of the price for class I fresh fruit.
The NFU has also expressed interest in the project and Sandys says she has had support from growers up and down the country.
But doesn’t all this sound a bit familiar? Surely there is an outlet for fresh produce beyond the supermarkets already?
That is what Zeenat Anjari, business development manager at Covent Garden Market Authority, believes. “In a way this is nothing new, but it is good that it is getting national, political attention,” she says. “It is welcome, however on a wholesale market there is already a customer for every grade from top chefs to a second layer of chefs, high-quality independent retailers to street traders and processors.”
What could set the Ugly Food concept apart, however, is Sandys’ brand ambition. “We are really trying to get a branded product out,” she tells FPJ. “That is because I believe it is an education issue. It is about re-educating the public that ugly is fine. The company has been set up legally now and I am talking to people about how to take it forward and get the right people involved.”
Anjari is keen to find out more. “It is certainly an interesting concept: on the one hand brands are great as people buy by brands and a strong brand attracts a premium, so imagine a brand for class II produce. On the other hand, there are no brands for class II so it is an interesting concept to create one that could get a premium for class II.
“A brand is a way to communicate and at the moment we have a whole generation that only knows how to buy pre-packed goods in a supermarket. An Ugly Food brand could really reach people who are not at home rummaging through class II produce on a street market.” -
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