Inside BENEO’s new pulse plant: pioneering sustainable protein from faba beans
The Kroger Co. next year is launching a private label that will give new life to produce that might not live up to consumers’ visual expectations but still meets taste and safety standards.
During Food Forward, an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in Washington, D.C., Nicole Davis, senior innovation manager for Our Brands with the Cincinnati-based grocer, announced Peculiar Picks, a new part of the grocer’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative intended to help eliminate waste from the system while also ending hunger in the communities the grocer serves. Currently, 6 billion pounds of produce go unused every year.
Nicole Davis explained that when produce doesn’t meet a specific color, shape, or size, it gets rejected whether it’s too tiny, bumpy, or has freckles and bruises.
A Kroger spokesperson told Delish that Kroger is excited to introduce Peculiar Picks (which is coming in 2019) “to transform the narrative around imperfect produce” as part of the grocery chain’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Plan. Customers who buy the “ugly” produce will help Kroger’s efforts to limit food waste.