Giant Eagle launches Produce with Personality
Giant Eagle is looking to educate customers that cosmetically challenged produce is just as delicious and nutritious as its more eye-catching counterparts. The company's Produce with Personality program celebrates some of the “ugly” fruits and veggies that are often rejected by retailers. The program is a first in the Pittsburgh area, and includes items such as Navel oranges, apples and potatoes. 
The company is following the success of the third-largest supermarket chain in France, Intermarche, which reported that all stocks of the fruit and vegetables sold out in two days and store traffic overall increase by 24 percent.
“We are thrilled that our customers may view purchasing Produce with Personality as a means to be more environmentally friendly, all while saving even more money in our stores,” Dan Donovan, Giant Eagle spokesperson, said in a press release. “We’re pleased to be the first major Pittsburgh food retailer to sell wonderfully weird produce with our five-store pilot program.”
The campaign follows industry news that as much as 6 billion pounds of produce is thrown away each year. That’s reportedly enough to fill four NFL stadiums.
Besides rescuing that perfectly nutritious potato from being wasted simply because it grew with an odd shape, there is another benefit for consumers: savings.
“Produce with Personality is product that has cosmetic imperfections,” Donovan said in the release. “Those imperfections allow us to offer these items to customers at very attractive prices.” Special displays in produce departments will feature the Produce With Personality.
“Whether you call them surplus, excess, seconds or just plain ugly, these are fruits and vegetables that may face rejection because they’re not considered perfect-looking,” said Donovan. “But it’s the taste that matters."
