Founded in 2020, Good & Fugly works with farmers to source blemished or imperfect fruits and vegetables, referred to as ‘fugly’ produce, to reduce the environmental impact of food wastage while creating new revenue streams for farmers.
The company then supplies boxes of fugly fruit and vegetables to customers as a standalone option or via a regular subscription at affordable costs, with free delivery.
Paul Milano, a farmer in Swan Hill who partnered with Good & Fugly after retailers rejected hundreds of kilograms of his fruit, said everyone lost out when good eating quality fruit and veg went to waste.
“Last year on our farm alone 50 tonnes had to be thrown away and this kind of thing is being duplicated across Australia,” he said.
“With Good & Fugly’s rescue emergency hotline, I’m able to give them a call during retailers’ oversupply or rejections and promptly work out a win-win solution, depending on the type of produce.
“Good & Fugly gives our delicious fruit and veg a home it deserves for everyone’s benefit.”
More than a quarter of fresh fruit and vegetables never leaves the farm because they don’t meet the supermarket’s beauty standards, leaving farmers at a loss not only in revenue but for their time, energy and resources.
Good & Fugly founder Richard Tourino said the 13-000-FUGLY hotline was a direct response to the significant volume of produce wasted due to not meeting retailers' aesthetic specifications.
“We’re about changing supermarkets’ beauty standards so that consumers will ultimately have access to all fruit and veg,” he said.
“What we do is better for the consumer, better for the growers and better for the planet.
“It’s an economically and environmentally sustainable social enterprise that Aussie farmers can get ahead with.
“The feedback from farmers has been really positive. They’re telling us we’re giving them an option that didn’t exist before.”
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
In Australia alone, 3.1 million tonnes of food is thrown away each year. That's 17,000 jumbo jets (747s).
Around the world that number grows to 1.3 billion tonnes. That's a mountain 3km across and almost 2.5km high.
Since 70 per cent of the world's fresh water is used for agriculture, that's 180 trillion litres of water.
Twenty per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are methane. Wasted food in landfills contributes to the total of this powerful heat-trapping gas.
Energy that goes into running farm machinery to produce all that food is wasted too.
Thirty per cent of all the world's farmland is used to produce wasted food.
Not surprisingly, food waste impacts land quality and biodiversity through deforestation and the degradation of over-worked soil.
Source: https://goodandfugly.com.au/
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