The Wonky Food Co (relishes from food waste)

The Wonky Food Co makes a small range of delicious relishes, all made from wonky fruits and vegetables. That have been discarded by supermarkets and sometimes farmers, and would otherwise end up on landfills.

Twenty years ago, the founder’s summer job on a New Zealand fruit farm, was to walk under kiwi fruit vines, and throw ‘misshapen fruits’ on the  ground to rot. He never forgot this food waste issue, and now makes three relishes:

• Sweet tomato relish (for veggie burgers or sandwiches)
• Chilli Tomato (nice with vegan cheese, add to pasta, or use as a marinade)
• Zesty Lime (nice to add to curry recipes)
• Tangy Onion (for vegan gravy and stew recipes)

Criticisms of supermarket ‘wonky produce’

Wonky produce is basically produce that has been rejected by the big supermarkets as being the wrong, size, shape etc. It’s good that companies buy it up to stop it going to rot.

But many (including chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall) are critical of supermarkets promoting ‘wonky produce’. Often they sell things like wonky carrots at discount prices, greenwashing customers into thinking they are helping the planet.

Actually ‘wonky carrots’ are just as good as any other carrots. And so paying farmers less for ‘less than perfect harvests’ is not helping the planet or farmers. They are also promoting the wrong idea that somehow carrots that are not ‘the perfect shape’ are inferior.

They are then still making profits, while paying farmers less. Who took just as much time and effort to grow carrots that perhaps due to weather, did not turn out ‘perfect enough’ for main produce shelves. It still promotes waste and lack of farming knowledge or appreciation.