CINCINNATI, OH - Wilted, wonky, or even just a wee bit warped are no longer no-go’s for retailers when it comes to choosing what produce to sell to consumers. While growers around our industry have been introducing imperfect produce brands over the past year, the buy-side is just now getting in on the action, with the likes of Baldor and, now, Kroger announcing their own imperfect produce brands.

At the Food Forward Summit last week, Kroger’s Senior Innovation Manager Nicole Davis teased audience members with the retailer’s newest brand, Peculiar Picks.

“We are looking into how else we can eliminate waste from our system,” Nicole said. “Did you know that six billion pounds of produce goes unused every year? It’s astounding. So, what we’re doing is creating a new brand that’s not in the store yet called Peculiar Picks.”

Nicole outlined how when produce reaches Kroger’s stores and it doesn’t meet a certain spec, color, shape, or size, it gets rejected —deeming this fruit as “ugly.”

“But if six billion pounds of produce falls into [categories] that are too tiny or too bumpy or too freckly on the outside, but that still taste delicious and are still perfectly food safe, then why can’t we capture some of that and use it to feed people, which is our ultimate goal?” Nicole continued.

To that I say, fair enough!

To find out more about Kroger's latest endeavor, click here.

While the Peculiar Picks brand is still in the works, will Kroger’s latest announcement spur more retailers to step up and make an effort to minimize food waste? AndNowUKnow will continue to keep an eye all fresh produce happenings.

Kroger