'Misfit' fruits and vegetables for sale at new Regina grocer

When you're shopping for produce at the grocery store, you're probably basing your decision on good looks. A new grocery store in Regina is offering an incentive if you go for the "uglier" items. 

"They look odd, but they taste great and it's usually savings of, you know, 30 to 50 per cent on the products," said Save-On-Foods president Darrell Jones. "We think it's going to be a big hit with the folks here. And hey, misfit vegetables deserve love too."

They look a little twisted, the tomatoes look like they've kind of got wrinkles on them, but the quality of the product is great.- Darrell Jones, Save-On-Foods president

The small section in the new store's produce area contains a rotating list of items that aren't as great looking as their grade A counterparts. Just ahead of the store's opening, it contained a small selection of mini melons, avocados, oranges, limes and lemons.

The not-so-pretty produce items come from Red Hat Co-operative in Medicine Hat, Alta. 

"Typically what happens is the growers will try to find a home for those, but the reality is a lot of it ends up in the landfill," Red Hat's marketing manager, Mike Meinhardt said. 

He hopes people will notice that the vegetables and fruits look a lot like the ones they grow in their own backyards. He says farmers often grow produce such as a carrot with two legs, or a cucumber that doesn't meet the standards because it's curved or has a bulbous end.

"It's perfectly fresh, nutritious, beautiful fruit and vegetables, just — they don't look the way we think they should look. 
And so The Misfits is an opportunity to take these to consumers, and give them an opportunity to buy them at a discounted price."

He pointed out a display of Misfit mini cucumbers that look just like most others, except they don't meet the grade A length requirement. And some fruits that are odd shapes and sizes, or discoloured. 

"You've got some scarring on it, you know, the bottom's a little bit discoloured," Meinhardt said, showing a mini-melon. 

He said the Misfits have been tested for sale in Alberta stores, but they're officially kicking off in the Regina Save-On-Foods and he's hoping Regina consumers will help the program expand to other stores.

Jones says he's happy to kickoff the grand opening of the Regina store with a section of Misfit items, and he thinks people will love the feeling of keeping uglier items from being discarded, along with the discount price.

"You know they look a little twisted, the tomatoes look like they've kind of got wrinkles on them, but the quality of the product is great," he said.