The partnership will see surplus and irregular-shaped produce, often known as wonky veg, redirected into Juniper’s school food operations helping to reduce waste while giving children access to fresh and nutritious ingredients.
Across the UK, large volumes of edible produce never leave the farm gate. It’s estimated that 2.9 million tonnes of edible food is wasted on UK farms each year, equivalent to 6.9 billion meals. Much of this waste is not linked to quality, but to appearance, size or retail specification.
Michael Hales, chief executive at Juniper Ventures, said: “We believe good food should be valued from field to fork. This partnership is about challenging the idea that vegetables need to look a certain way to taste great: if produce is fresh, safe and full of flavour, it has a place in our kitchens.”
The partnership with Ample and StreetBox will support Juniper’s ongoing work to reduce food waste, strengthen responsible sourcing and create school food services that deliver wider social and environmental value.