Perfectly Imperfect

Did you know that most of the fruit and vegetables on offer to us at the supermarkets have had to meet strict criteria based on their appearance? It might seem that this ‘perfect’ looking produce has been selected as it is the freshest and tastiest available but sadly that’s not the case, a massive amount of fruit and veg are sent straight to the compost or landfills simply on the basis that they don’t meet the high standards of size, shape or colour.

Perfectly Imperfect is a social enterprise based on the philosophy of ‘ugly is delicious’ and ‘Imperfect means I’m perfect’. They are on a mission to harvest the ‘ugly’ produce that is perfectly edible and redistribute it to those in need. Read on to find out more about what they do and how you can support this awesome initiative.

I’m-Perfect. Ugly is the new tasty…

A staggering 45% of fresh produce never leaves the farm and goes straight into compost or, even worse, landfills. And this scary statistic is just because this perfectly edible produce is not so pretty, or too big or too small when compared to other perfect counterparts in the supermarket. These “ugly” foods are perfectly tasty, it is our food system that is imperfect.

Perfectly Imperfect is a social enterprise and we believe that there is no such thing as perfect food, only tasty food. Our goal is to save the 122,000 tonnes of food going to waste each year in NZ by bringing new value to these “ugly” goodies. Our Mystery Boxes allow you to enjoy some of this rescued food yourself, while also supporting our initiatives to get this food to those that really need it. Sounds perfect? We think so too.

“Best for value and sustainability” – NZ Herald

Ugly is delicious. Ugly is new hope. Join us to build a sustainable circular food ecosystem with zero waste and zero hunger through the Gleaning Network program so that everybody can enjoy food with dignity.

Born from the discovery that 45% (or annually over 1 billion dollars worth) of perfectly edible fruit and vegetables are never harvested – due to their ‘imperfect’ size, shape, or colour – we’re on a mission to harvest this produce and redistribute it to those in need.

Sending perfectly good food straight to compost, landfill or in many cases simply mulching over it while it’s still in the ground – is just not good enough. It’s not good enough for the growers who’ve poured their time, energy and resources into growing this beautiful, abundance of food, and it’s not good enough for the many Kiwis who struggle to afford fresh, nutritious produce to put on the table. Supermarkets say imperfect, we say Perfectly Imperfect.

Who We Are

We’re a social enterprise that is purpose driven to save “ugly” food from going to waste. We were horrified to learn that 45% of the fresh fruits and veggies being grown in New Zealand are rejected as imperfect and will never leave the farm they are grown on. Instead of finding their way to hungry tummies, all this amazing produce instead gets composted or, even worse, sent to landfill. We knew there had to be something we could do – it was crazy to us that all this perfectly edible and healthy food was being rejected for trivial reasons such as being misshapen, too big, too small, too perfectly ripe, or not perfect enough for the mainstream market.  And that was how Perfectly Imperfect was born, when we developed this new way to connect our country’s “ugly” produce with consumers.

​We believe that”there’s no such thing as perfect food, only TASTY food.” Our goal is save the 122,000 tonnes of food that is going to waste by providing a new purpose for this produce. We encourage people to look beyond perfect and discover produce with personality within our mystery boxes. Not just that, but we are working on a number of community initiatives that help to redirect this food to people who need it most.

What People Say About Us

Winner of Community Collaboration from the 2021 Zero Waste Award by Auckland Council and EcoMatters.

Finalist of The 2021 People’s Choice Food Hero Award

Semi-finalist of The New Zealander of the Year 2022, in the category of The Community of the Year.

Our Founder Wendy Zhou was named one of the Kiwibank 100 Local Hero Medalists 2022, from The New Zealander of the Year Award.

Wendy was part of the KAITAKI Collective 2021 by Eat New Zealand, which helps to share Aotearoa New Zealand’s inspiring food stories.

Why Choose An Imperfect Mystery Fruits and Vegetable Box?

It’s a lifestyle choice – ‘Healthy Zero Waste lifestyle’

It’s a faith – ‘Faith in growers that all food that they are growing is delicious and nutritious, even they’re not always pretty’

It’s a gratitude – ‘Appreciation towards the hard work of our growers, and grateful that we have amazing water and highly nutritious soil in New Zealand.’

‘Imperfect = I’m Perfect’

Our Perfectly Imperfect Community aims to build a fair trade market for local growers and New Zealand families. It’s a win win situation – this “ugly” produce is getting eaten up, and we are providing an affordable solution for putting nutritious produce on Kiwi tables. It also helps our producers to avoid waste, avoid financial struggles, and to innovate to come up with new ways to avoid food waste.

In a sector where the traditional standards are impossibly high, our only standard is ‘Imperfect = I’m Perfect‘. We accept any produce no matter what its quirks – misshaped products, miscoloured, too big, too small, any weirdos that mainstream market rejected, we love them all.​

At Perfectly Imperfect we feel incredibly lucky that we get to do what we love. We’d love for you to join us in the Perfectly Imperfect experience. For more information, get in touch!

If you’re interested in receiving up to date information on what’s available with Perfectly Imperfect you can check out their Facebook Page here.