Wonky is the new straight

Products made from misshapen or ‘wonky’ vegetables that would otherwise have been thrown away are ‘hot’. Now that pioneers such as the Dutch organisation ‘Kromkommer’ have laid the groundwork, the big boys in the food chain are joining in too. Industrial catering company Hutten recently opened De Verspillingsfabriek (‘The Waste Factory’). In conjunction with Dutch supermarket organisation Plus, a tomato soup has been developed made from overripe tomatoes that are unsuitable for sale through its stores. Dutch retailer Jumbo is now also entering the market for soups produced from rejected vegetables.

Needless to say, this is excellent progress. The more major players that get involved in tackling food waste, the bigger the effect will be. And yet there are a couple of things that make me feel a little uneasy.

For instance, I’ve noticed that the soups sold by Plus and Jumbo have very similar packaging to that of Kromkommer: a transparent stand-up pouch with a cardboard label on the top. Although the makers of the Kromkommer soups are remaining relatively nonchalant about the whole thing, it’s not very original to say the least. I suppose you could say, ‘Why bother thinking up an idea yourself when you can copy someone else’s?’.

And above all, I have my doubts about the supermarket retailers’ true motivation for launching projects based on rejected vegetables. Are the big bosses really concerned about doing their bit to help society tackle the problem of food waste? Or do they actually just see this as a nice way of buffing up their image? The packaging of the soups sold by Jumbo does not make it particularly clear where the vegetable ingredients come from and what would have happened to them if they hadn’t been turned into soup. This vagueness strengthens my suspicions that the retailer is mainly just sympathetic to the idea. 

But let’s be honest – even if it is largely an imitation of someone else’s concept and even if it’s not quite so idealistic as it may seem, at least something is being done. Rejected vegetables are being ‘rescued’, and on a nationwide scale at that. And as for the Kromkommer organisation: as a pioneer, there can be no better compliment than having someone mimic your idea on such a scale.

Dennis Favier is a professional food designer and creative director at innovation company TOP bv which translates technological innovations into interesting applications.