To up the amount of fresh food hitting shelves during this Very Weird Time, Coles and Woolies have relaxed the (frankly kinda ridiculous) “cosmetic produce specifications” which means one thing and one thing only: fucken ugly fruit and veg. Borked bananas. Cooked carrots. Gronked grapefruits. Hell yes mates, this is a gift.
If you weren’t already privvy to this information, the fruit and veggies you see on the shelves at the big supermarkets are put through what’s essentially a beauty pageant for food.
Only the real pretty ones make it to the stores, while the rest with all their lumps and bumps are left for ???? who knows, maybe wholesale and industrial kitchens or something.
I haven’t read into it that much but the point is: these regulations are being eased back because we simply do not have the luxury to be choosy about which apple is the perfect shape right now.
Actually, if you’ve ever been to Harris Farm or something like that, you’ll know they have Imperfect Picks, and some Woolies have The Odd Bunch – those are the kinds of ugly fruit and veg that don’t make the grade in Australia’s Next Top Supermarket Model.
Speaking with the ABC, Woolies’ head of produce, Paul Turner, said they’re working with their suppliers to meet demands, and that included scrapping the cosmetic rules.
“Customers may see some differences in size on some of our fruit and vegetables,” he said. “As we work with our growers to ensure continuity of supply.”
I’m fully backing this, I can’t wait to see some mangled carrots and warped pears. Maybe a perfectly-straight banana. Send me photos. Tweet them at me. I want to your weird-ass ugly fruit finds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf_iqNklToR/
It’s also a massive step towards reducing food wastage as well, which is just a fun little bonus on top of the fact that putting bung fruit and veg out for people to buy means we’ll have enough food on the shelves to feed everyone.
Win-win, really. I see no faults.
