German discounter Penny has been selling fruit and vegetables that don't always look perfect throughout Germany since April 2016. The small flaws in appearance have no influence on the shelf life or the flavour, the Naturgut-Biohelden are of the highest organic quality.
Minister Remmel: "The sale of organic fruit and vegetables with beauty flaws should have happened much sooner. The destruction of food is no longer acceptable - and not just for ethical reasons. Growers are now given the opportunity to receive adjusted prices for high quality food. This strengthens German agriculture. I therefore hope that Penny's model will be adopted by others and will set a precedent for the valuing of food. I hope there are further initiatives."
Dr. Andreas Mager, chief of Naturhof Wolfsberg: "Thanks to the Biohelden concept we are also able to sell stone fruit with beauty flaws for a suitable price. At the same time the sorting work is clearly decreasing. I estimate that compared to previous years we are selling 20 percent more and are making more turnover. This is necessary for us, as this is the only way we are able to finance the very labour intensive work in production, as well as our nature projects. At the moment we are heavily investing in our company's bio diversity.