Ugly Food Gets New Lease of Life

At supermarkets, consumers tend to buy only fresh-looking fruits and vegetables, leaving the blemished and misshapen on the shelves. This contributes to food waste, a growing problem globally.

In Singapore, 809,800 tonnes of food waste was generated last year, of which only 16 per cent was recycled, according to the National Environment Agency. To combat the issue, Augustine Tan and Yeo Pei Shan, both 23, have started UglyFood to give rejected fruits and vegetables a new lease of life.

The social enterprise has been collecting fresh but unsellable fruits and vegetables to manufacture them into cold-pressed juices and ice cream. They are then packaged for sale at retailers and pop-up events.

How viable is this eco-conscious business model? Hear from co-founder Mr Tan himself in this video interview.