Australian sustainable grocery subscription service Farmers Pick has expanded its offering with the launch of its own line of pantry essentials in partnership with like-minded businesses as part of its efforts to make sustainable choices affordable.
The Farmers Pick Pantry will feature selectively handpicked coffee, preserves, alternative milk, and eggs, which shoppers can access at affordable rates alongside Farmers Pick’s existing subscription service.
With the pantry’s launch, Farmers Pick is looking to reduce grocery prices by up to 30 per cent, with the venture’s co-founder Josh Ball (pictured, left) saying that the aim is to providing a viable solution to the food waste problem.
“Further to the food waste issue here in Australia, we see another challenge in the supply chain,” Ball said. “Products with six months of shelf life under their belt are often knocked back from supermarkets if they fail to meet a specific criteria, and subsequently go to waste.
For Farmers Pick, this speaks to the exact issue we are trying to eradicate, and it’s these illogical rules that affect the rising cost of groceries,” Ball added. “By launching Farmers Pick Pantry, we aim to reduce costs and put an end to food waste beyond fruit and vegetables.”
In regard to its main offering of imperfect fruit and vegetables, Farmers Pick has also expanded its core offering to include an option to include either only fruits or only vegetables in their weekly box.
Since its inception, Farmers Pick has rescued more than 1,300,000 kilograms of perfectly good produce, preventing it from unnecessarily going to waste.
With 7.6 million tonnes of food waste annually in Australia, co-founder Josh Brooks-Duncan (pictured, right) said that Australians are deserving of convenient and simple solutions to make a difference.
“Farmers Pick was born out of a desire to see all imperfect fruit and vegetables reach Australian households,” Brooks-Duncan said. “Each year, $36.6 billion worth of food is wasted, equating to 312kg per person, or roughly $2250 per household each year. The amount of wastage created due to unrealistic cosmetic standards is disturbing, and we are determined to create solutions to this ongoing problem.”
Farmers Pick is currently available in VIC, ACT, and NSW, and has plans for national expansion.
This story was originally published on Inside Small Business.