Recently there’s been a lot of press surrounding the size, shape and appearance of various food items…
…sold in UK supermarkets, with Asda, Tesco and Waitrose all making significant announcements.
Back in January 2015, Asda began selling misshapen fruit and veg. It seems to have been a success and this year they have gone one step further by putting the UK’s first wonky veg box on its supermarket shelves. The boxes will be full of seasonal veg that might usually be considered too small, too big, the wrong shape or blemished. The vegetables come from farmer’s crops and have been washed before going on sale, but are cheaper as they may take people longer than normal to prepare. According to the supermarket chain, a box of imperfect in-season vegetables will feed a family of four for a week and costs £3.50 – 30% less than the standard range.
Soon after, Waitrose decided to deviate from the ‘norm’ and start selling misshapen vegetables as part of its new range. They have called it “A Little Less than Perfect” and the range currently includes onions, carrots, potatoes and parsnips– all of which have imperfections, such as being an unusual shape, having skin blemishes or splits. The contents will change from season to season, but will be sold in larger bags than the standard items making them better value for money.
In a move that sparked greater controversy, the powers that be at Tesco recently decided to stop selling curved croissants and instead just stock straight ones. This decision followed feedback from customers who said they preferred straight croissants as they were a better shape for spreading on butter and jam. This caused uproar on social media and of course sparked debate about how the croissant should actually be eaten. According to the French, who frankly should know, the croissant should be eaten either plain, or dipped in hot chocolate. Meaning that if we all ate croissants ‘correctly’, the shape would not even matter.
Who would’ve thought veg and pastry could cause such a stir. A little more variety and a little less food waste can only be a good thing, surely.