In less than 12 months, Harris Farm Markets has sold two million kilograms of imperfect looking fruit and vegetables as part of its Imperfect Picks range.

The range was launched in September 2014 in an effort by the family-owned business to address the staggering statistic that 25 per cent of fruit and vegetables grown in Australia never leaves the farm gate and is disposed of, ploughed back into the ground, or used as animal feed, just because it isn’t perfect looking.

Harris Farm Markets was the first major grocer in Australia to take the ‘carrot by the root’ and relax some of its famously high aesthetic standards to focus attention on these less than perfect picks.

Harris Farm Markets co-CEO, Tristan Harris, said shoppers had voted with their trolleys and baskets, filling them with two million kilograms of Imperfect Picks produce.

“This is about 50 semi-trailer loads full of food that wouldn’t have typically made it onto our shelves or into people’s kitchens,” said Harris.

“Even though we relaxed our standards to allow this produce to be sold in our stores across New South Wales, we never compromised our commitment to taste and freshness, which sees customers coming back time and again.”

Following on from the success of Imperfect Picks, in July, Harris Farm launched a second food waste initiative in a bid to improve the sustainability of the meat industry, with ‘Curious Cuts‘.

The Curious Cuts range includes four Tasmanian grass-fed premium Cape Grim cuts; beef brisket, beef chuck ribs, beef bavette and beef tri tip plus a pork oyster shoulder, and are around 30 per cent cheaper than premium cuts of meat.

This story first appeared on Inside Retail’s sister site, Inside FMCG.