You may have seen the news recently that an Australian farmer has set a record by producing a blueberry that is 20.4 grams – that’s the size of a ping pong ball! You wouldn’t want to hit it with a table tennis paddle, as it’s still juicy, edible fruit and that would get messy, but it just goes to show that unusual size and shape fruit can be a big hit.
In recent years, farmers have come up with grapes that taste like candy hearts of fairy floss, and there is that famous square watermelon in Japan. What you might not realise is that these innovations aren’t always about sheer novelty. Square watermelons are easier to transport because they can be stacked. Costa Berries’ new, record-breaking blueberry is an effort to better meet berry demand with larger berries that have a good shelf-life.
The point here is that where once there was the expectation of uniformity in fruits and vegetables, increasingly people are realising that, actually, it’s okay for food to look different.
Buying different is good, actually
We might not have the Guinness world record for it, but we like to think of the produce that we ship to your door as the fugliest food going around. In any given box of Good & Fugly, you’re going to find unconventional sizes, strange shapes, and even a spot of (healthy and natural) discolouration.
Every box is unique and filled with uniquely shaped fruit & veg: it’s all got character, as we like to say.
Unfortunately, while a supermarket will jump at the chance to buy novelty fruit and veg – they love selling those fairy floss-flavoured grapes at a premium, and heavy, big blueberries mean a greater price at the ‘till, the unique, intriguingly shaped fruit and vegetables that we buy would otherwise end up in landfill, rejected by the supermarket for not being the “right look.”
It’s silly, of course. The whole reason that we have jumbo-sized fruit, or that we’re able to turn ovals into squares, is because nature is not uniform, and that lack of uniformity isn’t a bad thing at all.
Then again, you benefit from the inflexibility of supermarkets! Because we’re able to buy our fuglies direct from farmers at a fair, but lower price than the supermarkets can, we’re able to deliver boxes far cheaper! You’ll be feeding your family every week with fresh, wholesome, and delicious produce, at a fraction of the cost of a trip to your supermarket.
As the ABC report on the massive blueberry mentioned - The journey of this colossal blueberry started with a dream, a sprinkle of good breeding, and a dash of excellent growing conditions. The team at Costa Berries, led by the berry enthusiast Brad Hocking, nurtured the Eterna variety with tender love and care.
All of the farmers that we buy produce from are the same, and by buying their fuglies, you’re helping all of them innovate and deliver the greatest range of fresh food and incredible flavours available anywhere in the world.
Enjoy those fuglies!
