Waste Not
Pross
Posts: 43,593
Anyone been watching this? I'm not usually one to jump on the anti-supermarket bandwagon as it's hypocritical when shopping regularly at them.
However, the Morrison attitude to food waste made me genuinely angry. After being pushed they finally did a limited trial on buying attitudes to cosmetically damaged veg with courgettes and then concluded that people wanted to buy the pretty stuff. Hardly surprising when they sold the cosmetic rejects at the same price as the compliant product and labelled them as 'ugly courgettes'. I accept that consumers rather buy something that looks better even though there's no taste difference but what they should have done was look at what cost differential would be required to encourage them to be bought. Farmers would accept less as they currently get nothing so everyone is a winner (or at least no-one loses).
Instead they treat their customers like idiots plus their PR guy was the most smug person I've ever see and needed punching!
However, the Morrison attitude to food waste made me genuinely angry. After being pushed they finally did a limited trial on buying attitudes to cosmetically damaged veg with courgettes and then concluded that people wanted to buy the pretty stuff. Hardly surprising when they sold the cosmetic rejects at the same price as the compliant product and labelled them as 'ugly courgettes'. I accept that consumers rather buy something that looks better even though there's no taste difference but what they should have done was look at what cost differential would be required to encourage them to be bought. Farmers would accept less as they currently get nothing so everyone is a winner (or at least no-one loses).
Instead they treat their customers like idiots plus their PR guy was the most smug person I've ever see and needed punching!
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Id sign the petition...except the website appears to have gone down under the load...Ill try again later
but no I can not believe how much food they chuck away just because its the wrong shape, its a parsnip, you just slice it up into bits anyway what difference does the shape make when you are buying on weight, you still get to buy the same weight, as long as it doesnt look like its bruised or about to turn into mouldy mush then its fine.
and labelling them ugly vegetables, I mean was that even serious, "ugly vegetables get yerrr ugly vegetables here!!!" a well known phrase never heard on market stalls across the land
and yes that PR man has been watching too many episodes of the Apprentice, the scary thing is he'll have been professionally trained to handle the media and yet still comes across like that, all he had to say was, well HughIll look into that, as that does seem unfair, not well they must like us else theyd have sold their veg to someone else.0 -
I'd guess supermarkets have thought about selling imperfect fruit and veg and decided that it's not good business. If they haven't and there is a gap in the market here then open up a shop and make your fortune ![Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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Been going on for years and before the huge growth in supermarkets.
i had a job on a farm as a student (34 years ago) and the amount of perfectly good veg thrown away or put to animal food was unbelieveable.... just because it was the wrong shape or was blemished.
its down to the consumer ie us.0 -
Been going on for years and before the huge growth in supermarkets.
i had a job on a farm as a student (34 years ago) and the amount of perfectly good veg thrown away or put to animal food was unbelieveable.... just because it was the wrong shape or was blemished.
its down to the consumer ie us.
In part yes. But we can't buy what isn't there.
The older I get, the better I was.0 -
Call it organic and charge an extra 20%.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I'm not usually one to jump on the anti-supermarket bandwagon as it's hypocritical when shopping regularly at them.
It's not really hypocritical if you don't have much choice. I used to go to the smaller shops - baker, greengrocer, fishmonger - and get better quality produce for a lower price. Then they all closed down and I had to go to the supermarket. I suspect many other people are in the same situation.0 -
Morrisons and their PR guys couldn't have come across as slimier if they tried. 'Ugly courgettes', sold at the same price, bagged over loose and probably not as fresh. Nice 'trial'.
Sainsbury's basic veg are a good example of how to do it. The same food but not as 'cosmetically good'.0 -
There was an item in The Oldie this month on this very subject, with the suggestion that instead of chucking imperfect fruit & veg or selling it marked as Not Very Good, if it's lumped in with the good stuff the customers buy it anyway and accept it for what it is. Sounds reasonable to me.
Realistically people won't knowingly buy stuff that's clearly marked as substandard, but who's going to complain at a few odd-shaped carrots in a bag of 20?0 -
Salisbury's basic veg are a good example of how to do it. The same food but not as 'cosmetically good'.
Asda smart price is the same. Take peppers for example, if I'm making a chillie I'll use them however I don't like lumps of pepper in a salad so tend to buy the sweet pointed peppers if I'm making something a bit fancier.Advocate of disc brakes.0 -
..and someone please re-assure me that the bulk of the population are not like the people who volunteered to be on this show; the 'recycling is a conspiracy made up by the council', primark zombies.0
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It does seem odd that some of the items they describe as ugly are
1. not the best looking veg in the first place
2. Are more often than not, sliced, diced or mashed out of recognition anyway.
3. Probably taste better as a consequence. i.e softer tomatoes generally taste better than criper ones.
No wonder people say British food is rubbish if we put looks over quality and flavour.
Anyway, it tends to all look the same after a few hours in the colon.0 -
..and someone please re-assure me that the bulk of the population are not like the people who volunteered to be on this show; the 'recycling is a conspiracy made up by the council', primark zombies.
I wouldn't be seen dead in Primark and we recyle all that we can.Advocate of disc brakes.0 -
..and someone please re-assure me that the bulk of the population are not like the people who volunteered to be on this show; the 'recycling is a conspiracy made up by the council', primark zombies.
I wouldn't be seen dead in Primark and we recyle all that we can.
But if you were a (Primark) zombie, you would by definition be dead anyway, wouldn't you?... I think I need some sleep....0 -
So. If he was a zombie, he would be dead. And still not seen in Primark. The point, I think...and someone please re-assure me that the bulk of the population are not like the people who volunteered to be on this show; the 'recycling is a conspiracy made up by the council', primark zombies.
I wouldn't be seen dead in Primark and we recyle all that we can.
But if you were a (Primark) zombie, you would by definition be dead anyway, wouldn't you?... I think I need some sleep....The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I couldn't believe that 16 year old girl who was throwing clothes out after two weeks as they were old. I was working full time when I was 16 and couldn't afford to buy more than a few items of clothing a year. I'm no tree hugger but found so much of the stuff on the programme making me angry, which I guess is the aim.0
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So. If he was a zombie, he would be dead. And still not seen in Primark. The point, I think...and someone please re-assure me that the bulk of the population are not like the people who volunteered to be on this show; the 'recycling is a conspiracy made up by the council', primark zombies.
I wouldn't be seen dead in Primark and we recyle all that we can.
But if you were a (Primark) zombie, you would by definition be dead anyway, wouldn't you?... I think I need some sleep....
A zombie wouldn't shop in Primark. They don't sell braaiiins0
