Add Category
The cosmetic appearance of fruit may be how many supermarket shoppers decide which piece to buy, but experts warn this approach is a significant factor contributing to Australia's 7.6 million tonnes of food waste a year.
Key points:
- A West Australian farmer is frustrated at consumer expectations of food appearance
- Cosmetics concerns about fresh produce is the second largest contributing factor to food waste
- Food waste experts say improved communication and education is part of solution
For vegetable farmer Rick Scoones, recent complaints from buyers about the appearance of his heirloom tomatoes were frustrating.
"It's started to create a problem for me because we developed this business on the basis of high quality flavours," he said.
"If we don't look after our local producers, one day, we're going to wake up and … only have imported fresh produce.
"And that will come from probably from countries that don't have the same respect for human health when it comes to chemical decisions."
On his farm in south-west WA, Rick Scoones grows a range of heirloom vegetables including pumpkins, squash and tomatoes, which he supplies to high-end restaurants in Perth and Fremantle.
Despite his heirloom tomatoes winning several awards for their flavour, they have a short shelf life, which has presented challenges.
Like many people in the hospitality space, Rick's business was hit hard by the pandemic and he no longer had time to personally deliver his produce to chefs.
The solution was to sell via a wholesaler — but Mr Scoones said when he made the change, the number of complaints about the appearance and softness of his tomatoes rose.
"We could produce green tomatoes and we could make them change colour with ethylene gas but we're not going to put flavour into them by doing that," he said.
"And the truth is, it's extremely unlikely that we'll go back into that sector of the market."
Frustrations echoed by industry
According to recent data from ABARES, a combined landmass about the size of Victoria is used to grow food that does not get eaten in Australia.
Melissa Smith is the horticulture action plan lead at Stop Food Waste Australia, an organisation established in 2020 by the federal government to lead the delivery of Australia's national food waste strategy to halve food waste by 2030.
Ms Smith said 22 per cent of food waste occurred at the primary production level, and one of the major reasons was the produce not meeting quality specifications.
"When we say quality specifications, we're meaning cosmetics," she said.
"Eighty per cent of the produce that's wasted is edible, which is pretty awful.
"It's a huge frustration for growers … that what they're producing can't always be sold."
The solution
Ms Smith was hopeful that consumer expectations around the cosmetic appearance of fresh fruit and vegetables would improve through education and improved communication between buyers and growers.
"Consumers love to think that they would just take a really broad range of looks and aesthetics, but it isn't always born out to be true in the store," she said.
Stop Food Waste Australia's horticulture action plan is expected to be released half way through this year, which Ms Smith said would help provide a way forward in addressing Australia's problem with food waste.