Rossen Reports: Would you buy this 'ugly' food to save money?
Grocery stores don’t like to stock “ugly” foods. If a box of crackers or a can of soup doesn’t meet a certain set of standards, it gets tossed in the trash. In fact, Feeding America says 108 billion pounds of food is wasted every year and a lot of that is because of what it looks like.
What could make a food “ugly”? There are a few reasons.
It could have a cosmetic problem; it’s oddly shaped, has a gash or dent in it, or the label could be out of place. It could have a size or weight imperfection, meaning it’s not the full 10 ounces it’s supposed to be. Or it could be too close to its “best-by” date. Most stores won’t stock items that are less than a few months away from those stamped dates.
Helping with sustainability, is an online grocery subscription service that takes those “ugly” foods that stores don’t want to sell, boxes them up and delivers it all to your door.
But what do these products really look like? Would you eat the food that comes? Will it save you money?
Watch the video above: Our Chief National Consumer Correspondent Jeff Rossen is testing out the subscription service to see how it all works.
Rossen Reports reached out to Imperfect Foods to learn more.
The company said, in part, “In 2020 alone, Imperfect Food’s sourcing strategy saved more than 50 million pounds of food and avoided over 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. From pretzels that become broken in the process of being covered in chocolate, to spaghetti that was two inches too short, Imperfect Foods has created a private label line that is delicious, sustainable, and affordable. While Imperfect Foods rescued millions of pounds of food from lesser outcomes, the brand has built an entire private label line that addresses all the other ways food goes to waste throughout the supply chain.”