Digesting the Food Waste Issue
a slightly different solution which involves a clever bit of marketing .
The company bought the imperfect and “ grotesque ” fruits and vegetables from its growers that would otherwise be thrown away . These are all perfectly safe for consumption , though their appearance hinders sales .
Intermarché markets the fruits and vegetables in a humorous , appealing manner ( calling them The Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables ) and sells them for 30 percent less than “ normal ” produce . To get customers to buy in , they provided sample juices and soups made from the Inglorious produce to prove their lack of difference .
This turned out to be a wildly successful venture , as during the first two days of the campaign , each store averaged 1.2 tons of sales and saw an increased 24 percent average foot traffic .
Though this may be a different kind of energy — the caloric kind — these kinds of initiatives are vital to the success of programs like Sainsbury ’ s .
“ Efficient energy recovery means getting the most out of energy from waste , not putting the most waste into energy recovery ,” reads the U . K .’ s analysis of its
Intermarche ’ s poster for its Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables
energy-from-waste efforts .
These two innovative approaches are helping fight the often overlooked issue of food waste and the energy industry at large would do well to take note , as more projects such as these are sure to sprout up . Partnerships such as Sainsbury ’ s and Biffa ’ s are lucrative for not only monetary reasons , but also put companies such as Biffa in a position to become early leaders in eliminating food waste .
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