Are specifications downgrading your crops?

Cosmetic specifications are an important part of horticulture, helping to maintain consistency for markets, retailers and consumers.  However, these specifications can inadvertently lead to high-quality, edible produce being excluded from markets and losing the premium value they could attract.

In the April edition we introduced a new research project led by End Food Waste Australia and Hort Innovation, aimed at helping growers increase harvest value by maximising first-grade produce, unlocking new markets for lower-grade produce, and develop farm-ready resources to reduce food waste.

Growers and industry stakeholders are now invited to provide input to the project by completing a short survey, to assist in identifying which cosmetic specifications most commonly cause lost revenue and crop loss.

You can complete the survey here and learn more about the End Food Waste research project here.

*Note: while cosmetic specifications aren’t generally relevant for oil olives, they’re obviously a big deal for table olive production. Many olive growers also grow other food crops for which this is an issue. If that’s you, please add your input to the survey.

The survey is part of the project ‘Reducing on-farm food waste and unlocking its value for grower profitability and sustainability’ (HN24001), funded through Hort Innovation Frontiers with co-investment from End Food Waste Co-operative Research Centre and in-kind support of the project’s partners, researchers, growers, and industry participants.