French supermarket introduces lumpy and misshapen fruit and vegetables - sold at a 30% discount - to combat food waste
- Intermarché launched Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables earlier this year
- It wanted to prove that unattractive produce is just as edible
- The supermarket gave the ugly fruits and veg their own aisle
- The project was a success with the store almost selling out
It is well known that we eat with our eyes as well as our stomach, however one French supermarket is attempting to re-educate our perspectives on lumpy, ugly, misshapen fruit and vegetables with a new initiative.
The third largest supermarket chain in France Intermarché, launched a campaign earlier this year that sought to put an end to food waste.
Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables celebrates the 'ugly' produce that is often thrown away by growers and considered unfit for consumption.
Intermarché wanted to help prevent food waste by proving to customers that unattractive fruits and vegetables are just as delicious as their pristine counterparts.
The campaign follows the news that we throw 300 million tons of food away each year, encouraging the European Union to make 2014 the year against food waste.
The campaign by Intermarché is supported by advertising agency Marcel who, with the help of photographer Patrice de Villiers, produced seven posters starring the unattractive produce to go alongside it.
The posters included images of the grotesque apple, the ridiculous potato, the hideous orange, the failed lemon, the disfigured eggplant, the ugly carrot, and the unfortunate clementine.
For de Villiers the most important part of the process was giving character to the greens.
She told the Fast Company: 'The most vital element was ensuring the "strange but lovable" theme shone through I spent time observing our uglies trying to find the precise angle which showed both their "ugliness" and their loveliness, finding their unique character.'
She added that this was a subject that was particularly important to her.
'It's the taste that matters. Given the vast amount of fresh produce needlessly thrown away, the sooner more supermarkets implement something like the Intermarché strategy the better.'
As well as the posters Intermarché gave the produce their own aisle in the supermarket, buying the fruit and veg that farmers would usually throw away which saw the goods going for 30 per cent cheaper than others on offer.
To begin with the unwanted cast-offs didn't prove vastly popular so the supermarket, determined to prove they were just as flavoursome as those we would usually buy, produced soups and juices with the fruit and veg for customers to try.
The result was a huge success: all stocks of the fruit and vegetables sold out in an initial rush and supermarket traffic overall increased by 24 per cent.
Questions:
1. What kinds of fruits or vegetables do you like? And, what kinds of them do you hate?
2. Do you think the campaign could be successful if it happens in Taiwan? Would you choose to buy them?
3. If you are a marketer, how could you do to sell them all out?
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