Wonky veg by stealth?

zagmund

Does anyone else think that Lidl/Aldi have adopted the "wonky veg" movement by stealth with their 29c/39c deals?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/11/tesco-launch-wonky-veg-range-food-waste-fruit-vegetables

I've noticed that the appearance of some (but definitely not all) of the produce is lower than the normal standard. Initially I was somewhat irked when I thought that they were passing off lower grade stuff like this until I remembered that it's way below market price and is effectively "wonky veg" by another name.

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the quality is lower than the full price products? Just to be clear - I'm all for the idea and don't have any issue. I'll happily buy veg at that price, and don't have any expectation of uniform product anyway.

z

snubbleste

Veg is veg.

Speedwell

zagmund wrote: »

Does anyone else think that Lidl/Aldi have adopted the "wonky veg" movement by stealth with their 29c/39c deals?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/11/tesco-launch-wonky-veg-range-food-waste-fruit-vegetables

I've noticed that the appearance of some (but definitely not all) of the produce is lower than the normal standard. Initially I was somewhat irked when I thought that they were passing off lower grade stuff like this until I remembered that it's way below market price and is effectively "wonky veg" by another name.

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the quality is lower than the full price products? Just to be clear - I'm all for the idea and don't have any issue. I'll happily buy veg at that price, and don't have any expectation of uniform product anyway.

z

I was in Aldi yesterday and noticed that the carrots (in particular) were what customers might consider "wonky" and I would consider "looks like the carrots we used to buy when I was a child". They weren't especially discounted, either. On the other hand, leeks I bought at Lidl as part of the weekly special were straight, white, and of uniform size, better than I would pay three to five times the price for at Tesco and Centra. So eh, I don't know. I'd be happy to buy any veg so long as it was fresh, ripe, and didn't create excessive waste in the kitchen.

zagmund

snubbleste wrote: »

Veg is veg.

You're not wrong.

But I've no idea what you mean.

Cars are cars. Tables are tables. I could continue . . .

z

L1011

The "wonky veg" thing is MASSIVELY overstated, because its trendy to act as if you're helping somehow

Do you think that industrialised food service producers care about the shape of carrots, potatoes etc for producing ready meals, potato powder for mash, etc, etc.

Some producers even have optical or other method mechanical grading systems that divide the retail quality stuff and the non-retail but still usable stuff.

The supermarkets who sign exclusive purchase deals with farmers (buy what they want, stop them selling to others) are the problem, not the veg. But this isn't anywhere near as common as claimed.

Incidentally I bought a bag of "wonky onions" from Tesco because they'd sold out of unbagged 'normal' ones and a good 3/4 of them were inedible rather than just 'wonky'.

Speedwell

L1011 wrote: »

Do you think that industrialised food service producers care about the shape of carrots, potatoes etc for producing ready meals, potato powder for mash, etc, etc.

Actually, I thought they insisted the most on a consistent product size and shape that wouldn't cause too much trouble to their automated equipment.

snubbleste

Speedwell wrote: »

Actually, I thought they insisted the most on a consistent product size and shape that wouldn't cause too much trouble to their automated equipment.

Well no. It's the supermarkets that insist on uniformity and they claim it is because that is what the consumer wants
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/27/ugly-fruit-vegetables-supermarkets-harvest

Miike

zagmund wrote: »

You're not wrong.

But I've no idea what you mean.

Cars are cars. Tables are tables. I could continue . . .

z

A button mushroom, is a button mushroom, is a button mushroom.

The shape doesn't affect the taste, not even slightly. It's sold off cheap because it is "unsightly" and subsequently less likely to be purchased. Look at the farm location on the wonky stuff and the non-wonky stuff.

Speedwell

I bought a box of "wonky" mushrooms from Tesco in my latest delivery order, and none of them were outside the parameters for mushrooms I would have bought in a "non wonky" box, as it happened. But even if they were, what difference does it make, I wasn't using them whole anyway.

To me a quality problem in produce is when I buy a bag of perfectly shaped carrots and they turn to slimy mush in my refrigerator in four days, or a bag of potatoes that are half rotted, or wormy apples, or leeks with a bare inch of white. Things that affect the freshness, edibility, wastage, and shelf life of the veg in a markedly averse way. I don't notice more wastage with produce that is imperfect solely in appearance.

rubadub

Speedwell wrote: »

Actually, I thought they insisted the most on a consistent product size and shape that wouldn't cause too much trouble to their automated equipment.

It would depend where it is ending up. I have heard chippers buy round potatoes as they suit the automatic peelers. I expect some ready meals would want certain size and shape potatoes too.

So I would not be surprised if some food service producers are more fussy than supermarkets.

Miike wrote: »

A button mushroom, is a button mushroom, is a button mushroom.

The shape doesn't affect the taste, not even slightly. It's sold off cheap because it is "unsightly" and subsequently less likely to be purchased.

The media keep going on about the looks, as though its the only factor. If buying loose I carefully select potatoes and sweet potatoes etc if I can see they will be easy to peel. Sweet potatoes have dips & troughs so if you have lots of them you cannot peel it easily with a standard peeler. It ends up taking longer to peel and with more waste per kilo. I value my time, many media people do not seem to account for the value of time at all.

Glenbhoy

rubadub wrote: »

It would depend where it is ending up. I have heard chippers buy round potatoes as they suit the automatic peelers. I expect some ready meals would want certain size and shape potatoes too.

So I would not be surprised if some food service producers are more fussy than supermarkets.


The media keep going on about the looks, as though its the only factor. If buying loose I carefully select potatoes and sweet potatoes etc if I can see they will be easy to peel. Sweet potatoes have dips & troughs so if you have lots of them you cannot peel it easily with a standard peeler. It ends up taking longer to peel and with more waste per kilo. I value my time, many media people do not seem to account for the value of time at all.

Yeah, a big fat rectangular style sweet potato (or ordinary potato) is hard to beat in terms of effort to peel and wastage, although it's more time and effort that concerns me in truth. I always select them carefully.

Re chippers buying potatoes, round my direction they get seem to buy their potatoes in chip shaped form!

hardCopy

There can be times when paying for a premium shape makes sense, if you want to stuff a portobello mushroom or bake a potato. I generally chop my mushrooms before frying them and I don't peel carrots or potatoes so shape doesn't really matter.

Twice recently I have bought "wonky" branded onions and found that half the net were badly bruised and I had to cut out a lot of waste.