Tag Archives: waste

Tesco to sell wonky fruit as well as veg

According to reports, Tesco is to widen its specifications for certain fruit lines after successfully trialling ‘wonky veg’ in its potato and parsnip lines.

The retailer said that it had worked with its suppliers to extend its retail specifications so that it could sell Class II apples and strawberries to its customers at value prices. It added this meant that it would sell 95 per cent of its supplier’s strawberries and 97 per cent of their British apples.

Matt Simister, commercial director for fresh food and commodities at Tesco, told the Fresh Produce Journal, “The work doesn’t stop here though. We have experienced high levels of waste in-store on the parsnips in particular, and therefore need to continually develop our specifications so that we minimise the food that is wasted in any part of the chain.

“We’ve already facilitated the up-take of 35 tonnes per week from our potato partner Branston into our ready meals partner Samworth Brothers, and we’re hopeful that the establishing of a juicing relationship with Scripps, our key grower of British apples, will utilise the remaining two per cent of the edible crop.”

Photo Caption: Tesco says it will now sell 97 per cent of the British apples grown for it.

Photo Credit: Tesco

The post Tesco to sell wonky fruit as well as veg appeared first on Hort News on 15 April.

Parsnips used to launch war on waste

Television chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall used parsnips as an example of the waste in the food industry in the first of his two Hugh’s War on Waste programmes which was shown on BBC One on Monday 2 November.

He visited the Hammond family at Tattersett Farm in Norfolk where he saw 20 tons of parsnips a week wasted as they did not meet Morrisons’ specifications. Olly Hammond, who runs the family business with his mother Debbie, told the programme, “If we sent in these parsnips they would be rejected and returned the next day.”

Although the Hammonds were initially happy to appear on camera, they later withdrew from a follow-up piece, allegedly due to pressure from the supermarket, which also refused to discuss the issue on camera during the first episode. In a statement the company said it had previously tried to sell wonky parsnips but customers had not bought them.

The second episode of Hugh’s War on Waste will be screened on BBC One at 9 pm on Monday 9 November.

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M&S to give surplus food to charity

According to reports, Marks and Spencer is to begin donating surplus food to charity. It will begin with 150 stores in December and plans to roll the scheme out to all of its stores early next year.

Following similar initiatives by Tesco and Sainsbury’s, M&S conducted a series of trials and pilots in 45 stores aimed at finding the most effective way of redistributing surplus food to ensure it is put to the best possible use.

Head of Responsible Sourcing Louise Nicholls said; “This is the first nationwide redistribution scheme to provide an innovative, practical solution to surplus food redistribution by building local connections, enabling all our stores to link with local food projects and help support their communities.” The products to be donated include ‘fruit, vegetables, bread, cakes and groceries [that are]nearing their expiry date.’

According to the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), UK supermarkets waste up to 200,000 tonnes of food a year. M&S will donate the food via Neighbourly, a social enterprise scheme which connects businesses with community projects. Neighbourly founder Nick Davies commented, “Putting food resources to the best possible use is a huge aspect of creating a sustainable planet.” Food charities keen to participate in the scheme can register online from Monday 12th October.

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Jamie Oliver and Asda push wonky produce

TV stars Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty have used their latest series: Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast on Channel 4 to persuade supermarket Asda to stock misshapen or ‘ugly’ vegetables after meeting growers.

Doherty claimed, “Up to 40 per cent of everything farmers grow gets rejected by supermarkets because it doesn’t meet their strict beauty standards. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of veg. are thrown on the scrapheap.” The programme spoke to Kevin Hammond and his son Oliver of Tattersett Farm near Fakenham in Norfolk who told the presenters the future of their business was on the line with only half the crop making the necessary specification. “We’ll make a loss on this crop this year,” said Kevin, referring to a field of carrots. “We estimate that 40 per cent of this field are splitting.”

Mr Oliver said, “If most Brits had half an idea of the amount going to waste, they’d be snapping up ugly veg. by the trolley load. There’s no difference whatsoever in taste or nutritional value. This is perfectly good food that could and should be eaten by humans.”

The range includes discounted products such as Claude Carrot, Paul Potato and Suzie Swede. According to the supermarket, the new range will increase potato crop utilisation by 10 per cent and swede by 15 per cent.

Asda produce technical director, Ian Harrison, explained, “The first step in this project was to look at how we could extend use by dates on produce. Our ‘Beautiful on the Inside’ range, which would have either gone to waste or been used for further processing, will now be celebrated for its freshness, value and quality in stores.

“We’ve been working very closely with our farmers to make sure we have excellent knowledge of our supply chain. Our growers are savvy and already use a large percentage of this wonky crop for further processing, for things like ready meals and juicing, but we saw an opportunity to extend this even more.

“There is still work to be done in encouraging customers to give ‘wonky’ fruit and veg. a go, but we hope our campaign will break down some of those barriers and make ‘ugly’ food more accessible for shoppers and families.”

The new lines will be launched in store later this month with around a 1/3 discount to regular produce.

The post Jamie Oliver and Asda push wonky produce appeared first on Hort News on 14 January 2015.