MP to sell food too ‘ugly’ for supermarkets
A Tory MP has announced plans to launch an initiative to buy up food deemed too unattractive by supermarkets and sell it on to consumers.
Ugly Food will be run on a non-for-profit basis, selling food under the slogan ‘Tasty but not perfect - just like you!’
Laura Sandys, the Conservative MP for South Thanet, announced her plan during a parliamentary debate on rising food prices and food poverty yesterday.
Ugly Food would buy up food rejected by supermarkets for aesthetic reasons and be “open to all small producers to market their foods with new branding and a new logo” she told the House of Commons.
“There are a phenomenal number of small suppliers who have food rejected because their produce is not perfect. We should look to create a market for that food, so that we do not waste it.”
A spokeswoman for Sandys told The Grocer the initiative was still at a very early stage but a formal launch in the Commons was planned over the coming months. It was likely that Ugly Food would initially be piloted locally in Sandys’ East Kent constituency, in association with local farmers and supermarkets.
Readers' comments (6)
Andy May | 24 Jan 2012 13:33
Why is a MP getting involved with selling food ?
Do they not earn enough money without getting involved with something that some of us are trying to grow business out of already.
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Lesley Field | 24 Jan 2012 14:25
The principal is good but how it will work countrywide is another matter. I would buy "ugly" produce. I always feel that fruit and veg should be different sizes.
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Kath Allen | 25 Jan 2012 6:28
I wonder how it would work nationwide but agree that consumers should be able to get perfectly decent fruit and veg, whatever shape or size, instead of it ending up in the bin.
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Mike Brown | 25 Jan 2012 13:42
Pondering the false morality and the ethics of Aesthetically pleasing fruit shows how shallow we have become, imagine this story in a starving African country where all and any food is welcome, please forgive me as I get down from my pedestal
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Katy Elliott | 25 Jan 2012 13:54
I'd buy all the so called "ugly" fruit and veg up. It all tastes the same and once its cut up nobody would know the difference. People in this country are too fussy.
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GRO39938 | 30 Jan 2012 21:27
Politicians should also look at over the top legislation on health issues relating to food packaging and dates. A good example of this is the "sell by date" and "use by date"
Which often makes some people think the product is ready for the bin. It's common knowledge that a 1/3 of good food often goes to waste . Simplifying and even extending dates on some products would go a long way to saving money and the family budget not to mention hundreds of lorries transporting goods for the bin ...something to think about ...
Arjan Mehr -Londis Bracknell.
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