Sprouts Farmers Market launches rescued organic produce programme

Sprouts Farmers Market, one of the largest and fastest growing specialty retailers of fresh, natural, and organic food in the United States, has announced the launch of its Rescued Organics programme in all 130 stores in California.

The Sprouts’ Rescued Organics programme aims to reduce food waste and support local farmers by bringing to market imperfect organic produce that would typically be discarded due to imperfections that do not affect quality.

Rescued Organic produce may be misshapen, under or over-sized or slightly off colour, but has the same great taste, nutrients, and amazing quality as other Sprouts produce. The programme also makes organic produce more accessible because it is offered at a reduced price.

“Five billion meals worth of edible food are left on farms each year, and the Sprouts Rescued Organics program is designed to help address that problem,” said Nick Konat, president and chief operating officer of Sprouts. “This programme allows our customers to partner with us to reduce food waste by taking home delicious, high quality organic fruits and vegetables that may look a little different but are perfectly good, keeping so-called ‘imperfect’ produce out of the landfills.”

In addition to reducing food waste, the Rescued Organics programme will support Sprouts’ farmer partners. Farmers’ inability to sell imperfect produce makes farming less profitable and more difficult to operate. 

The Rescued Organics programme will initially feature 12 different varieties of local produce, including potatoes, onions, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, pears, carrots, kiwi and bell peppers.