Sydney social enterprise Good & Fugly has delivered a lifeline to farmers whose produce is being rejected by grocery store giants for failing to satisfy ‘magnificence requirements’.
The model has launched a produce ‘rescue’ hotline for farmers for the Good & Fugly staff to buy surplus vegatables and fruits.
The 13-000-FUGLY hotline is a direct response to a rise within the quantity of produce wasted on account of not assembly retailers’ aesthetic specs. Crop growers are sometimes left to discard undesirable produce—which is the place Good & Fugly can step in.
Paul Milano, a farmer in Swan Hill, Victoria, who partnered with Good & Fugly after retailers rejected a whole bunch of kilograms of his fruit, mentioned everybody loses when good consuming high quality fruit and veg goes to waste.
“Final 12 months on our farm alone 50 tonnes needed to be thrown away and this sort of factor is being duplicated throughout Australia,” he mentioned.
“With Good & Fugly’s rescue emergency hotline, I’m in a position to give them a name throughout retailers’ oversupply or rejections and promptly work out a win-win resolution, relying on the kind of produce. Good & Fugly provides our scrumptious fruit and veg a house it deserves for everybody’s profit.”
Rejected by supermarkets
Founder Richard Tourino mentioned 25% of contemporary fruit and greens by no means depart the farm as a result of they don’t meet grocery store “magnificence” requirements, that means farmers lose income in addition to time, vitality and sources.
So Tourino, who beforehand labored at Go Get, got down to discover a method to help farmers throughout Australia.
“Particularly throughout these instances with the availability chain shortages and floods. We’re about altering supermarkets’ magnificence requirements so that customers will in the end have entry to all fruit and veg,” he mentioned.
“What we do is best for the buyer, higher for the growers and higher for the planet. It’s an economically and environmentally sustainable social enterprise that Aussie farmers can get forward with. The suggestions from farmers has been actually constructive. They’re telling us we’re giving them an choice that didn’t exist earlier than.”
Good & Fugly provides standalone and subscription packing containers of “ugly” fruit and greens at inexpensive prices and free supply. Extra at goodandfugly.com.au
