11 years of Fruta Feia

11 years ago, the first delivery of Fruta Feia took place: the farmers had their products ready, we managed to load everything into the van, then assembled all the baskets at the deilvery point, and consumers came to pick them up. It worked, and we introduced ourselves to the world as the first solution to fighting food waste due to appearance.

The idea was very simple, since it doesn't make sense to waste fruits and vegetables for mere aesthetic reasons. This co-op model left the solution for this problem in the consumers hands without knowing where it would lead.

After 6 months, with just over €1000 in the bank, our only van caught fire. Several people left their jobs that day to come help us put together the baskets. Consumers saved money for 2 months and together we were able to buy a new van. We were reborn from the ashes and proved the collective strength of being a Cooperative.

Being a cooperative also involves a horizontal internal structure, an Assembly where workers make decisions collectively. We are environmental engineers, sociologists, architects, sound technicians, archaeologists…, we have different views and ways, but we unite over a common goal called Fruta Feia. Our scale is now completely different – ​​we went from 1 worker to 18, from 10 farmers to 380, from 1 delivery point to 17, from 100 consumers to 10,000, from 500 Kg to 27,000 Kg of avoided waste per week – but our values ​​of social and environmental justice are exactly the same as they were 11 years ago.

Congratulations on this conviction to fight to maintain the backbone of Fruta Feia. We all stand together!