A fresh fruit and vegetable ‘rescuer’ has revealed the staggering amount of avocados he has saved from ending up in landfill because they were unfit for sale.
Josh Ball, co-founder of Farmers Pick, shared a photo of huge bins filled to the brim with fresh produce.
Mr Ball said he diverts about 4,000 kilos of avocados from landfill each week and blames supermarkets for the waste.
He said a lot of fresh produce is thrown away because of small blemishes and imperfections.
Last month, 1,600 kilograms of avocados from a Queensland farm were dumped in a landfill after being rejected for superficial reasons.
“The avocados we rescued had a combination of skin defects and were irregular in size and shape,” Mr Ball said. Yeah.
He said other types of fresh produce, including citrus fruits, are also being rejected due to similar cosmetic issues.
Mr Ball said the waste was contributing to rising food prices during a cost of living crisis due to supply shortages.
Farmer’s Pick co-founder Josh Ball said he prevents about 4,000kg of avocados (pictured) from ending up in landfill every week
“Customers are already struggling to get fresh fruits and vegetables to their tables due to rising inflation. And this problem is being exacerbated by the shortage of fresh produce,” he said.
‘Furthermore, the price of rejected produce is a hidden factor in the cost of produce in the shops. So if we ate everything that was produced, fresh food would probably be cheaper.’
Farmers Pick sells discarded fruits and vegetables at a reduced price to customers in several states.
The independent retailer estimates that approximately 2.4 billion kilos of produce is rejected each year before it leaves the farm.
Mr Ball urged retailers to take more responsibility for reducing food prices by preventing quality produce from going to waste.
A Coles spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the supermarket is working hard to ensure fresh produce meets customer tastes and preferences.
“We offer our customers avocados in different sizes, so that they can make optimal use of our farmers’ harvest. For example, a pack of 5 pieces and our loose variant,” the spokeswoman said.
‘We assess all products for eating quality, ripeness, pest damage, appearance and expected shelf life. In addition, we strive to find the right balance between our customer-specific specifications for fresh products and minimizing food waste.’
‘More and more customers are realising that there are all sorts of delicious fruit and vegetables available in all shapes and sizes, and are therefore increasingly choosing our I’m Perfect range’.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Woolworths and Aldi for comment.
Shocking findings from think tank The Australian Institute show that Australian households waste almost $20 billion every year on food waste.
The report, published last year, found that major supermarkets are raking in more than $1 billion from people buying more food than they need.
Farmer’s Pick estimates that around 2.4 billion kilograms of produce is rejected each year before it leaves a farm (pictured, fresh produce left in a green bin behind a supermarket in Sydney).
According to the report, strict cosmetic requirements for the appearance of fruit and vegetables are the cause of product waste.
According to ABS figures, food prices have risen by 17 percent since March 2020.
Australians are struggling with the cost of living as inflation runs well above the targeted 2 to 3 percent.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.8 percent in the year to June, still above the Reserve Bank’s target of 2 to 3 percent.