SHOPPERS can bag themselves huge bundles of fruit and veg at a serious discount if they’re willing to take home “wonky” items.
Most major supermarkets sell misshapen fruit and veg for reduced prices – and in some cases you can get a box to feed the family that works out as just pennies per item.
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The produce is still perfectly good to eat but may be close to its sell-by date or have marks or other imperfections that make it harder to sell.
Some supermarkets offer boxes of imperfect fresh produce, while others offer individual ranges of discounted fruit and veg.
Here’s what fruit and veg offers are available at every supermarket right now.
As they are popular, they tend to be snapped up quickly and availability can be limited.
It could be worth calling ahead to your local store to see if they have any to save you a trip.
You can find your nearest branch using the store locator tool on each supermarkets’ website.
Lidl
Lidl shoppers can bag a huge bargain on fruit and veg, with a 5kg box going for just £1.50.
The discount supermarket sells bundles of imperfect produce that would otherwise be thrown away as part of its Waste Not scheme.
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Lidl trialled the boxes in 2019 before rolling the scheme out across all its UK stores late last year.
The bundles include damaged and discoloured items that are otherwise perfectly good to eat.
Produce you might find in the boxes includes tomatoes, bananas, potatoes, carrots, aubergines and peppers.
Shoppers have taken to social media to share photos of their bundles, with one saying: “Today is the first time I was able to get a box from Lidl in Gloucester – I’m very impressed with what I got”.
Money Saving Expert calculated the cost of all the items in a box would normally add up to over £10.
You can usually pick up a box near to the checkout area and there are a limited number available each day.
However, the boxes are put out at 7.30am, so you have the best chance of bagging a box if you get in early.
One shopper said there were still plenty of boxes left at 9am at their local Lidl in Oadby, Leicestershire.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s also offers a box of fresh fruit and veg at a bargain price of £2 – and it could feed a family for four to five days.
The boxes include carefully picked fresh produce such as pears, onions, tomatoes and citrus fruits.
Shoppers have gushed about the generous amount of fruit and veg in the box.
One customer said they got a bunch of grapes, two avocados, six satsumas, three apples, a bag of pears and four baking potatoes in their bundle.
Another shopper said: “Pretty impressed with my £2 fruit and veg box. What a great idea and such good value!”
The boxes can be found in Sainsbury’s fresh produce aisles in an orange box labelled “taste me, don’t waste me” and are subject to availability – so it’s best to get in early.
The boxes can be found in over 200 major Sainsbury’s stores.
Morrisons
Morrisons doesn’t offer a specific box of discounted produce, but it does sell a wide range of “wonky” fruit and veg at discounted prices.
The supermarket said it no longer offers boxes because the waste was too high, but it is committed to offering wonky items individually.
The range is available all year round and is available online and in-store.
You can grab a 1kg bag of wonky carrots for just 40p – 15p cheaper than a regular bag.
A huge 2.5kg bag of wonky potatoes is £1.15 – just 20p more than a 1kg bag, which sells for 95p.
Meanwhile, you can get 1kg of mixed wonky berries for £2.99 and a pack of strawberries for £1.19.
Aldi
Aldi has teamed up with the app Too Good to Go to help customers get cheap deals at the end of the day, and you could get a variety of fruit or veg.
For £3.30 you can get a “surprise bag” of fresh food worth around £10 – but there are only a limited number each day.
Aldi says each bag is a surprise, but could contain fruit, veg, meat or dairy products.
Aldi also offers cheap fruit and veg as part of its Everyday Essentials range, including discounted wonky bundles.
You can grab a wonky 1.5kg bag of carrots for 60p and a pack of wonky grapes for £1.49 in Aldi stores.
Aldi is consistently ranked the cheapest supermarket and several other shops price match their items to Aldi – so look out for the Aldi Price Match label if you’re shopping elsewhere.
The discount supermarket chain also offers 75% off on fresh produce that is nearing the end of its shelf life, so keep an eye out for red discount stickers at the end of the day.
Tesco
Tesco has been selling wonky fruit and veg for almost seven years and said it has saved millions of fresh produce from the bin.
Like Morrisons, the range is available online all year round, subject to availability, and you can pick up a 1kg bag of mixed berries at Tesco for £2.99.
This is a huge bargain compared to a regular pack 150g pack of raspberries or blueberries, which sell for £2 each.
Asda used to offer wonky veg boxes but has confirmed it stopped offering them last September. Sadly, the supermarket said it has no plans to reintroduce the range in future.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
