UglyFood

In a nutshell

A Singapore social enterprise, UglyFood aims to reduce food waste, caused by cosmetic filtering (blemished or “ugly” produce), and excess supplies to create a more sustainable food ecosystem in Singapore.

UglyFood offers unwanted, cosmetically blemished, but fresh and delicious, produce to Singaporeans (at a fraction of supermarket prices). Orders can be delivered to customers’ homes or picked up at the store located at SUTD.

For more information and to purchase fruits and vegetables for you and your family, head over to https://www.uglyfood.com.sg/

Behind the brand

Sean Goh, General Manager of UglyFood, first got to know the team through a YSE volunteer programme that connects social enterprises with mentors. With more than a decade of commercial experience across marketing and sales, Sean mentored the team for a couple of years and stayed in touch even after the team graduated from SUTD. In late 2020, he joined UglyFood on a permanent basis and got the opportunity to fuel his passion for food, sustainability, and help scale budding ideas.

How they operate

UglyFood’s produce is bought from distribution hubs in Singapore, where there is always an imbalance in supply and demand and, as a result, surplus or unloved food is discarded. Unfortunately, most supermarkets still reject perfectly good produce if they do not look ‘right’. Tonnes of this rejected produce, which are perfectly edible, are returned to wholesale containers weekly.

UglyFood takes a three-pronged approach to tackle food waste:

1. They have an online grocery store where they sell unwanted and excess fruit and vegetables.
2. They create educational content on their website and social channels to raise awareness amongst consumers about their food consumption habits and change mindsets and attitudes towards cosmetically damaged produce.
3. They run workshops for businesses and schools to educate employees and nurture young minds to think and be more sustainable with interactive activities.

Why we love Ugly Food

Firstly, they are making a difference to the planet by rescuing what would be food waste. Their educational efforts will help encourage more of us to be more sustainable in our daily lives.

UglyFood also believes (passionately) that beauty is more than skin deep. Natural produce comes in many shapes and sizes, and they want people to understand that we cannot reject fruits and vegetables just because they don’t meet our “ideal image”.

Lastly, their branding is just so incredibly fun! Definitely check out their cartoons and Instagram posts, we absolutely love how they make serious subjects fun and relatable.

Support

There are two ways you can support UglyFood!

Give them a follow on Instagram and share their posts and profile to anyone you feel would enjoy their posts.

If you’re based in Singapore — check out their website and perhaps consider making an order to give them a try?