Each year, we throw away over 300 million tons of fruit and vegetables worldwide mainly because they do not conform to retail standards of perfection (57% of total waste). The European Union has made 2014 the European year against food waste; and  Intermarché the 3rd largest supermarket chain in France decided to try and change their customers perceptions to encourage better behaviour towards imperfect fruit and vegetables by showing them that though they might be ugly, they are just as good to eat!

Intermarché made every effort to celebrate 5 “fruits et legumes moches” or “inglorious fruits and vegetables”. They received their own print and film campaign, their own local poster and radio campaign, their own in-store branding, their own aisle in store, their own labelling, and their own spot on the sales receipt. Finally, for people to realise that they were just as good as the others, Intermarché designed and distributed inglorious vegetable soups and inglorious fruit juices in-store.

The campaign celebrated the beauty of the Grotesque Apple, the Ridiculous Potato, the Hideous Orange, the Failed Lemon, the Disfigured Eggplant, the Ugly Carrot, and the Unfortunate Clementine. Intermarché bought from its growers the products they usually throw away, and sold them in-store just like any other, but 30% cheaper and making them far more attractive to their consumers. They sold on average 1.2 tonnes per store in the first 2 days of the campaign, increased store traffic by over 24%, and reached over 1.3 million people with the publicity they received! “Inglorious Fruits & Vegetables”, a glorious fight against food waste!