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PORTSIDE CULTURE

CAN MARKETING MAGIC HELP FOOD WASTE DISAPPEAR?  
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David Burrows
March 18, 2025
JustFood.com
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_ Researchers from Minnesota State University Mankato showed that
‘storytelling’ combined with marketing tactics like coupons
“significantly increases consumers’ consumption of unattractive
produce”. _

A sign in a Tesco store promoted discounted vegetables. , Credit:
Tesco plc

 

In 2022, the Japanese artist Ichio Usui fixed googly eyes to the sort
of food that often gets wasted – aubergines, squash, pineapples and
the like. Japan has one of the highest food waste per capita figures
in the world, so his series ‘Silent voice’ aimed to dramatise the
problem. “I think we need to understand this problem, and people
tend to empathise more with something that has eyes or resembles some
sort of face,” he said.

Eyes are certainly well recognised as one of the most powerful tools
in advertising. They convey emotion and draw attention. They can tell
a story. And suck us in. “When we see someone’s eyes in an ad, we
instantly feel a connection,” wrote US-based optometrists Urban
Optiks in an August blog. “This makes us more likely to remember the
product or message being advertised.”

So, could this be used to sell sustainability – or specifically to
help reduce food waste? Absolutely, according to marketing researchers
at Bryant University in the US. “It’s not about making the produce
less ugly. It’s about making it more human,” they explain on the
back of their paper published in the journal Psychology & Marketing in
August – ‘From ugly to attractive: Leveraging anthropomorphism to
increase demand for irregular‐appearing produce’.

For years, marketers have offered discounts for irregular items or
tried to explain the environmental effects of food waste to encourage
consumers to overlook aesthetic flaws in everything from carrots and
cucumbers to tomatoes and tangerines. What they’ve found is that
undoing the years and billions spent on selling us perfect produce is
hard.

Exemplar theory is a psychological concept that suggests people
categorise objects and ideas by comparing new stimuli to memories of
past experiences, or ‘exemplars’.

“With exemplar theory, humans are very, very exacting and there’s
almost no room for error,” explains Kacy Kim, associate professor of
marketing at Bryant. “They have something ideal in their mind and
they can’t deviate from that.”

Unless it has some googly eyes stuck to it, that is. By
anthropomorphising ugly fruits and vegetables, for example, it’s
possible to “short circuit” the exemplar-based response and
replace it with something kinder and more subjective, say Kim and her
colleagues. “When we evaluate a non-human object, we are generally
very critical and quick to say this is ‘bad’ if we notice an
asymmetry or abnormality,” says Kim. “However, when we look at a
human, we are usually more generous, and we tend to avoid the usual
binary. We might say, ‘Oh, she has unique eyes,’ or ‘Their hair
is interesting,’ or even ‘They seem like their heart is
beautiful.’” 

Eggplants and optics

Bryant’s experiment, which used an image of a lowly, lumpy eggplant,
some of those googly eyes and Photoshop wizardry, showed the
ocularly-enhanced produce received a significant bump in purchase
intention compared to the eyeless control images. However, there was
no effect if the eyes were placed on more perfect produce.

Adding names also helped. People cared less about the three heads a
strawberry had so long as it was called Jordan, for example. And the
effect was more marked if the apple or avocado came from a corporate
giant than a local supplier. “The differences occur because
consumers expect corporate farms to conform to standardised aesthetic
norms but expect local farms to market irregular-appearing produce,”
the researchers wrote.

They aren’t the only academics to have been looking at how to sell
unappealing apples. I know I’m ugly, but please listen to my story
is the title of a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour
in October. In two studies, the researchers, from Minnesota State
University Mankato in the US, showed that ‘storytelling’ combined
with marketing tactics like coupons “significantly increases
consumers’ consumption of unattractive produce”.

Promotions like ‘but 2 get 1 free’ were actually shown to be
“ineffective’ on their own. “We found that instead of
highlighting a great deal, the discounted produce can enhance concerns
consumers may have about quality and taste, thus decreasing the desire
to purchase the unattractive produce,” they wrote. What’s more,
the fact they are buying three items magnifies any quality or taste
concerns, they add.

This is where the ‘story’ can have an impact. Harmony Farm, a
fictional brand, was created along with accompanying marketing
mock-ups that told the “journey” of the “unique” and
“irresistible” oranges from “rejection to recognition”.
‘Taste’ and ‘premium’ and ‘freshness’ were also mentioned
in the adverts. A nod to how good these fruits were expected to taste
is a key part of the promotional puzzle, notes Sophie Attwood, a
behavioural scientist and consultant at Behaviour Global who wasn’t
involved in the research (but posted about it on social media).
Promotion of vegan diets can be based on aspiration, she explains, but
that’s much harder to do with food waste.

Vive la difference

There is the view companies have missed opportunities to connect with
consumers on topics like food waste. Brands should stop apologising
for wonky veg and recycled packaging just because it looks different,
Nicolas De Resbecq, marketing expert at New York-based offline
marketing specialist Oppizi, explains. “They need to own it,” he
adds, citing how Intermarché in France ran a “fun” campaign that
“made people feel like they were getting something valuable, not
doing a favour for the environment”.

There has been no shortage of time, money and energy spent on reducing
food waste but it tends to be ad hoc and perhaps even a little limp.
Food manufacturers and retailers have made decent inroads in the waste
created from farm gate to shelf, but either end of that is where the
bigger problems lie.

Are brands embarrassed to put their marketing might fully behind
misshapen produce, despite the environmental and economic benefits?
It’s possible. Many will not want farm waste in the spotlight as it
will attract questions and expose ugly truths about the exacting
standards of retailers and the cut-throat nature of farmer contracts
(research by charity Feedback found that rejection based on aesthetic
imperfection, unfair trading practices and overproduction were the
three main causes of on-farm food waste).

Selling ugly produce is one thing; selling less produce is quite
another. The links between over-consumption and waste are as strong as
ever. Publicly, brands will say they want to be part of the solution
rather than the problem. Bel Group, Kerry, Tesco, Unilever and Walmart
are among the big players involved in the Consumer Goods Forum’s
#TooGoodToWaste – a food loss and waste education campaign launched
in 2023 that aims to spur faster progress among CGF members and the
millions of consumers they reach.

UK retailer Tesco is seen as a pioneer, having conducted eye-opening
audits of the waste throughout its supply chain. Recent initiatives,
detailed in the annual food waste reports it publishes voluntarily,
include its ‘reduced in price, just as nice’ areas in 300 stores,
as well as ‘use-up day’ – a new campaign launched in 2022 to
help encourage households to cook a meal using up food already in
their kitchen.

At Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, there have been efforts to encourage
purchase of imperfect produce with ‘taste me, don’t waste me’
fruit and veg boxes, priced at just £2 ($2.57). In the Netherlands,
supermarkets have been focusing on the categories with the biggest
losses, like bread and pastries and fresh meat and fish. Yesterday’s
bread is sold at discount prices, for example, while Albert Heijn,
Jumbo, Lidl, Dirk and DekaMarkt are among those involved in the Shelf
Life Coalition – through which signatories clarify ‘best before’
and ‘use by’ dates with a symbol on at least 50% of private-label
products.

Unilever has launched ‘Meal reveal’, an AI-powered tool that
allows consumers to scan their fridges for ingredients that can then
be combined in recommended recipes (some of them that are of course
helped by a dollop of its Hellmann’s mayonnaise). “Food waste is
an unintended consequence of our busy lives,” said Hellmann’s
global VP Christina Bauer-Plank. “People never set out wanting to
throw food away.”

But still food keeps filling up bins. Attwood says there has been
“loads of work done” on food waste reduction campaigns but it
tends to be quite “bitty”. Measuring whether any of the approaches
have stuck, and reduced food waste, is also hard to say. Progress
reports on many of these initiatives are equally hard to find (the
Dutch one includes an annual report). What’s wasted in people’s
homes is more difficult to decipher still because it relies on
consumers self-reporting, which is notoriously iffy (and that might
also explain why brands don’t tend to include food waste in
people’s homes within their Scope 3 carbon emissions).

Is now the time to strike, though? There is the cost-of-living crisis.
Manufacturers and retailers are looking for quick wins to deliver
Scope 3 emission reductions. And the regulatory net has begun to
tighten (consider the food waste reduction targets just set at EU
level through the waste framework directive). Many countries are also
sweating over food security (waste less and you have to produce and
import less, too).

Some start-ups have already got the jump on the competition. Marketing
experts cite the UK’s Oddbox and Misfits Market in the US as
examples. These work “because they make customers feel smart for
choosing them, not like they’re making a lesser choice”, says Paul
Drecksler, the founder of Shopifreaks, a weekly newsletter for
e-commerce executives, marketing directors and investors.

The premium feel also offers an aspirational and ethical pull.
“Grocery stores can follow suit by setting aside sections for items
that aren’t perfect or meal kits that come with extra
ingredients,” adds Georgi Todorov, founder and CEO at Create & Grow,
a digital agency. “Getting rid of food waste isn’t just a way to
cut down on pollution – it’s also a way to build loyalty and make
more money.”

Under the influence

Marketers have also turned to influencers for a helping hand.
“People buy stories, values and the feeling of being something
bigger,” says Lindsey Jones, head of content at New Zealand iGaming
destination KiwiBets, and “sustainability influencers have built
trusting audiences”. They have cooked with upcycled ingredients and
turned leftovers into gourmet meals. This is a pleasant turnaround
from stories blaming these social media stars for generating food
waste as hopeful followers tried to cook up perfect meals that were
ideal for sharing on Instagram.

“The behaviour change potential of social media is clear,” said
Professor David Halpern, chief executive of the UK-based Behavioural
Insights Team (BIT) as he published research with Unilever showing the
potential of social media to drive more sustainable behaviour,
including a reduction in food wasted at home. “When your audience is
on board and familiar with what to do […] it may be that all they
need is that additional nudge, reminding them of why immediate action
is needed,” BIT explained.

Influencers have also spotlighted the (growing number of) companies
using surplus food. The pandemic seemed to give upcycled food a shot
in the arm but this is no silver bullet to sustainable products.
“[S]ome upcycled food can be environmentally and economically
viable,” notes a briefing paper published in January by the
University of Otago, New Zealand, but “evidence supporting the
social benefits of upcycled food is limited and, in some situations,
the upcycled food industry may have an unintended negative impact on
food security”.

Though the sustainability claims need clearing up, upcycled foods are
undoubtedly sexy right now. From sauces made with tomatoes that would
otherwise have been tossed to high protein snacks made from leftover
grain from beer production, these are stories that should whet the
appetite of marketers. “Incorporating upcycled ingredients into
product innovation is one of the most direct and scalable ways food
brands can drive sustainability,” says Dan Kurzrock, founder and CEO
of Upcycled Foods, which has just launched upcycled breads for Misfits
Market’s Odds & Ends private label.

Upcycled snacks seem to be one of the categories consumers are
particularly hungry for. This isn’t an easy time for the snacks
category generally, though. There was a “slowdown” last year,
according to PepsiCo chief executive officer, Ramon Laguarta, as he
told analysts in February that the Doritos, Fritos and Lay’s
maker’s “number one priority this year has been stabilising the
category, making sure that consumers come back to the category”.

This could well be just the start, with snacks brands witnessing the
rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Perhaps there is a
win-win here: smaller portions made from upcycled ingredients. Selling
less is a hard sell but reducing food waste was never going to be
easy. As Estelle Herrszenhorn, head of food system transformation at
the UK charity Wrap, wonders: “Can marketers help people both buy
what they need and use what they buy?”

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