Ugly fruit and vegetables are being sold in some supermarkets in the Landes region of the South West of France to fight against wastage. These badly calibrated products sell for about 30% less than calibrated products…they are ugly but taste the same.
They may be too big, lumpy, badly shaped, out of proportion… but they taste the same. Director of Intermarché at Mont-de-Marsan says “these vegetables are ugly vegetables that are totally consumable, with the same nutritious qualities”. The Intermarché group launched the “ugly fruit and vegetable” project to sell such products. These products are not even normally put on the shelves, 40% of total production would usually be thrown out in France every year.
Food waste in France reaches almost 1.2 million tons per year. This represents a €400 loss per household per year.