Inglorious Fruits & Vegetables
Intermarché2014
Inglorious Fruits & Vegetables is a 2014 business action and campaign for Intermarché, created by Marcel, Paris.
Why it works
A supermarket that put the rejects on the shelf. For the European year against food waste, Intermarché, France's third-largest grocer, bought the misshapen produce its growers usually threw away, gave it its own displays, price labels and even its own name on the till receipt, and sold it about 30% cheaper — with 'ugly' carrot soup and orange juice to taste in store. The March 2014 pilot in a single store in Provins, backed by roughly €3,000 of local media, sold its whole 1,200 kg stock in two days, and Marcel says store traffic rose 24%. That autumn the chain ran the operation across its 1,800 stores, and rivals Auchan and Monoprix launched their own versions. It won a D&AD Black Pencil. It is studied as purpose that changed the product rather than the tone of voice — a retailer tackling a problem it helped create, honestly enough to avoid the charge of greenwashing, and selling more as a result.
Techniques
- Purpose and cause Tackles food waste by buying the misshapen produce growers usually throw away and selling it in stores.
- Card stacking Turns the produce's weakness into a selling point, giving rejects their own proud branding and a price about 30% lower.
- Demonstration Serves soup and juice made from the ugly produce in store, so shoppers can taste that it is just as good.
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