At the Perfectly Imperfect pop-up fruit and veg market in west Auckland, customers can find carrots that are too big, capsicums that are too small and pears that are a bit bruised. And they did not seem bothered if their fruit and veg was a bit wonky or misshapen. The produce had been supplied by a not-for-profit called Perfectly Imperfect.
Pop-up markets were held on Fridays in Westgate, Mount Roskill and Whangaparoa. Customers paid $15 a bag for whatever had been supplied on the day. There were limits on how much fruit and vegetable you could pick, but the customers didn't seem to mind.
A volunteer at the market said: "The vegetables that are usually rejected by supermarkets because they are not aesthetically appealing, so we get whatever supermarkets do not want and we sell them for $15.”
Perfectly Imperfect was started by Wendy Zhao during Covid-19. She was shocked when she learned more than 40 percent of produce did not even leave the farm - simply because it did not look good enough. She aimed to save the 122,000 tons of food from becoming waste.
Source: rnz.co.nz
