Kroger launches 'ugly produce' line

Citing a stat that six billion pounds of produce go unused every year, Kroger’s Senior Innovation Manager Nicole Davis told attendees at last week’s Food Forward Summit that her company would be “creating a new brand that is not in stores yet called Peculiar Picks,” according to FoodNavigator-USA.

Set to launch in the first quarter of 2019, this new label will repackage so-called “ugly” produce—which “doesn’t meet a specific color, shape or size ... but still tastes delicious and is perfectly safe”—and “encourage our consumers to try these items so there is not so much waste,” she explained. Previously, Kroger wouldn’t have sold this flawed produce at all.

Kroger is far from the only retailer looking to address food waste using these sorts of tactics. Both Whole Foods and Walmart started experimenting with selling ugly fruits and vegetables back in 2016. In 2017, the Michigan-based Meijer supermarket chain added “Misfits bins,” selling “cosmetically-challenged” produce at 20 to 40 percent off, according to Food & Wine magazine.

Logo courtesy of Kroger