YOUR INDUSTRY
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL PRODUCE BOX REDUCING FOOD WASTE Words by Glenys Christian
Misfit Garden embraces weird and ugly ‘misfit’ produce
It is a case of the weirder the better for two Taupō women on a mission to make fruit and vegetables exciting. Their food box deliveries of misshapen or irregular produce are growing exponentially as customers appreciate not only the variety, but the fact they are helping to reduce food waste. Sofia Dekovic and Jen Long set up Misfit Garden 13 months ago to provide growers another outlet for fruit and vegetables for which they couldn’t find a buyer. Sofia, a chef from Chile, and Jen, a Scottish biologist, met in France then came to New Zealand, initially settling in Queenstown. They moved to Taupō three years ago and wanted to buy local food at farmers’ markets – a standard practice in Sofia’s homeland.
There is a misconception that this produce is reject. But nine times out of ten, it is fresher because it hasn’t been in a coolstore
36 NZGROWER : NOVEMBER 2021
“Growing up in Scotland, my family grew and ate all their own vegetables,” Jen says. They were also aware of growing food waste with a lot of fruit and vegetables which didn’t meet supermarket standards going to cattle feed. “It is totally insane that growers were over-planting for when their vegetables didn’t come out straight,” she says. “There is a misconception that this produce is reject. But nine times out of ten, it is fresher because it hasn’t been in a coolstore.”
