Tesco Ireland has announced the launch of a new range of fruit and vegetables, Perfectly Imperfect, together with supplier Country Crest. The range will include fresh produce that is slightly outside normal specifications, but at a lower price than standard fruit and veg.
Perfectly Imperfect kicks off with Irish onions that have grown beyond normal specification size and were harvested late due to the overly wet weather in early autumn. The onions are now available as a three-pack in all Tesco Ireland stores at the promotional price of 49c, while stocks last over the next ten days, according to the retailer.
Tesco Ireland says that through this initiative, 300 tonnes of Irish onions will be saved from composting or waste. Country Crest, which has supplied Tesco, reports supplying stores with approximately 3,000 tonnes of Irish onions a year.
No Time For Waste
“At Tesco, we’ve no time for waste,” said Tracey McDermott of Tesco Ireland. “From time to time across the year, customers will see our Perfectly Imperfect range, which will contain vegetables that may have been wasted on farms, but will now be on offer to our customers at low prices.
“These Irish onions are grown for Tesco by Country Crest, who have been supplier partners of Tesco for over 20 years. Grown with the same care and attention as with all Country Crest-grown products, they are slightly off specification: the skin on some of the onions has been affected a little more than normal by autumn weather, although they remain perfect on the inside.”
Last September, Tesco Group CEO Dave Lewis announced the company’s partnership agreements with 24 of its largest food suppliers, with the aim of halving food waste by 2030.
‘Ugly’ Trend
Other retailers have initiated similar efforts of their own to tackle food waste in the fruit and veg sector.
Most recently, Carrefour Brasil launched its ‘ugly’ produce range of fruit and veg that do not meet traditional aesthetic standards.
Belgian retailer Delhaize announced that it was starting to sell ‘ugly’ vegetables at reduced prices in its stores in Belgium and Luxembourg in May, aiming to save 150 tonnes of food waste annually.
Last year, Spanish retailer Eroski reported having sold more than 786 tonnes of imperfect fruit and veg, raising awareness about food waste and responsible consumption.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
