They call them ‘Cinderella vegetables’ – 'like Cinderella, they can’t go to the ball, but really, they should.”
So says Lindsay Boswell, CEO of anti-waste and food redistribution charity FareShare, on fresh produce not deemed ‘good-looking enough’ to grace the shelves of major retailers.
A report by the UK’s Global Food Security programme claims retailers’ standards can reject up to 40 per cent of edible produce based on size or shape.
Such a snubbing of the food industry equivalent of the oppressed folk-tale character partly explains why charities like FareShare – which last year redistributed 4,200 tonnes of food, enough to feed more than 50,000 people a day – are on the rise.
Niki Charalampopoulou is policy and campaigns manager for Feeding the 5,000, a group that tackles food waste, and one which has the ear of major supermarkets and governments. It also works closely with growers on its gleaning project, co-ordinating volunteers to collect unharvested produce from farms.
She says: “During 2012, as a result of bad weather and public demand, many retailers had to start marketing more misshapen produce. As a result, the NFU reported that about 300,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables were saved from being wasted. The British Retail Consortium has reported that misshapen fruit and vegetables are the fastest-growing segment of the fresh produce market. Cosmetically-imperfect food isn’t just edible – it’s valuable.”
Examples of misshapen produce on sale at major retailers include Tesco's Value wonky carrots and supersized pineapples, and Waitrose’s weather-blemished apples.
“Supermarkets are experts in the art of making products appealing to consumers, and they can apply this art in order to be able to buy and sell more of the produce that a farmer grows rather than causing it to be wasted,” Charalampopoulou adds.
Mary McGrath is CEO at FoodCycle, a charity that takes in edible surplus food and feeds those in need at its 17 hubs across the UK.
She says: “A few years ago, supermarkets found it difficult to believe that food waste was an issue – especially around the time they had ‘bin dippers’. Now, with food and heat poverty in the news, the moral compass has completely changed. They realised they were throwing away shed-loads of food, and needed to do something positive.”
That has certainly been the case recently. Tesco took the bold step of making public its own food waste figures last month. It was revealed – among other things - that more than two-thirds of produce grown for bagged salads gets thrown away, and that 28,500 tonnes of food waste was generated in its stores and distribution centres in the first half of 2013.
“Retailers are responsible for far more than what is wasted in their own operations as they have a lot of control of what happens in their supply chains,” Charalampopoulou says. “One of the first things we challenge supermarkets to do is to openly report their food waste data from farm to fork and that this data should be third-party audited. We are pleased that Tesco took up this challenge. It is a first step forward.”
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, highlights its own work in cutting down on food and packaging waste. “We stopped ‘buy one get one free’ promotions on produce over a year ago when we began offering ‘mix & match’ across our produce range, which allows customers to receive the value of a multi-buy without causing waste.”
Paul Minett, retail director at convenience store chain Booths, adds: “We work hard to engage customers on issues of sustainability through marketing campaigns which promote ethical buying choices. Initiatives like ‘buy one get one free next time’, and trading loose on fruit and vegetables, enables consumers to purchase only what they need in perishable goods to minimise household food waste.”
The UK government has been working on the issue too. Food minister Lord De Mauley, says: “We are working with retailers through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) to reduce food waste. We have set targets on reducing food and packaging waste for retailers and manufacturers under the third phase of the Courtauld commitment, which runs from 2013 to 2015.
“This phase targets a further 1.1 million tonnes of waste reduction. Forty-nine signatories have already signed up to the commitment, with a combined share of more than 90 per cent of the UK grocery market based on sales.”
Sainsbury’s also works closely with FoodCycle, matching its stores with the charity’s hubs. It donated more than 10m meals to over 400 charities in the UK last year. And, as well as ending BOGOF deals on packed salad on the back of its food waste revelations, Tesco recently signed a deal with FareShare. The arrangement will see the country’s biggest supermarket provide the charity with 2,300 tonnes of surplus food every year – the equivalent of seven million meals.
Despite this positive action by multiple stakeholders, the need for surplus food to be redistributed remains great. Mark Varney, director of food at FareShare, says: “There are six million people in extreme poverty who struggle to afford basics such as food. And there are half a million children in the UK alone who struggle to eat fruit and vegetables due to food poverty. There is an enormous amount of work to be done. We want embedded processes with all food businesses – from growers to supermarkets. There are also issues around access to food surplus; business processing issues. To engage with the problem of food waste as a whole, though, you have to target all the stakeholders in the supply chain.”
McGrath, whose aim is to “greatly expand” FoodCycle over the next decade and have 200 hubs, praised the relationships her charity has with Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. But she warns: “Other supermarkets have to look at their processes. Some will say, come and collect food waste at 10pm. Or, there are issues regarding maintenance of the store’s standards.”
Charalampopoulou adds: “We need more transparency to identify where food is wasted, why it is wasted and what state it is in, which is going to allow businesses and governments to put in place the solutions to the problem. We want retailers to take responsibility for food that’s wasted as a result of their decisions in farms, factories, packhouses and customers' homes.”
A Defra spokesperson concludes: “Everyone has a role to play in reducing waste and we want to see more businesses helping consumers to waste less food. We will continue to work closely with food retailers and manufacturers to achieve this goal.”
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