Regardless of whether it is the EU cucumber regulation or extremely picky customers in retail. As a rule, only fruit and vegetables with hardly any defects or visual defects reach the sales counters of German supermarkets - after all, you eat with your eyes too. The reality in the farmers' fields, however, is different: every year, tons of the best fruit and vegetables are left to rot or end up in the feed troughs of livestock. This means that farmers cannot get rid of up to 40% of their harvest at all (!). Why is that? It mainly has to do with the EU specifications for the trade classes into which agricultural products are divided. However, this is exclusively about visual properties; the taste and quality of the fruit are not taken into account:
fruit and vegetables
As an EU quality standard for fruit and vegetables , the legislator has established the following binding quality classes in order to improve market overview and to protect consumers from inferior goods:
Common characteristics of all classes: whole, firm, sound, clean, residues of plant protection products are limited to a safe level, free from foreign odor and taste, free from pests, free from damage caused by pests, free from excessive moisture, sufficiently developed (ripe).The packaging must be stable to protect the products.
Class criteria:
- Commercial class Extra (H. Extra) highest quality; free from any defects (whole, smooth, firm, plump), well formed, uniform color, same size.
- Commercial class I (H. I) good quality; slight shape and development defects, slight color defects, very slight bruising, sufficient strength.
- Trade class II (H. II) medium quality; major defects, major color deviations are permitted. In any case, the minimum properties must be met. Almost all organic products carry the H. II.
Source: Wikipedia
Although trade class II is already an attempt to respond to the retail industry's obsession with beauty, that is not enough for us at Antidote. Since the visual properties really do not play a role in cold juicing , when purchasing our 100% organically grown ingredients, we try to buy up the rejects that retailers consider unsaleable. This has many advantages for you, the consumer, but also for us as manufacturers:
- We hardly interfere with retailers when purchasing and therefore know exactly where our organic ingredients come from.
- Since no one else wants this product, we can achieve slightly lower prices when purchasing, which we pass on in full in the price of our juice. This means that Antidote Juice is just as tasty for you - but a little cheaper than our competitors' - great, right?
- The farmers and traders are happy to now have a buyer for these goods, no longer have to worry about it and earn more from their harvest.
- A new market (we are talking about B-goods or trade class III) is emerging, which means that in the long term the prices for organic fruit and vegetables in retail should also fall.
- As a customer, you know that you are doing something for a regional, decentralized merchandise management system - feels good, doesn't it?
By the way: Slowly but surely something is happening - we are not the only ones with this approach! The three Berlin students Giacomo Blume, Moritz Glück and Daniel Plath published a concept for the widespread distribution of ugly vegetables in their thesis ' Ugly Fruits ' and were able to win the ADC Junior Award 2013 from the Bauhaus University Weimar in the Holistic Communication category. They are now planning to open their first shop, starting in our capital city Berlin.
Please never forget: We do our best, but you as the customer have the real power to change something. Conscious nutrition should go hand in hand with conscious consumer behavior. It doesn't matter if the cucumber is crooked or straight or the apple has a bump, as long as they taste just as delicious as the models among the fruits.
If you would like to find out more about the topic, you should take a look at the additional information at Ugly-Fruits . We are also happy to provide you with advice and support via email or in the comments.
Eat fresh,
stay healthy,
know what you consume! Sources (as of July 2, 2014):
