Fresh produce that ended up at the Perfectly Imperfect pop-up fruit and vegetable market in west Auckland had imperfections like the carrots are too large, the capsicums are too small, and the pears are bruised.   

On Fridays, pop-up markets were held in Westgate, Mount Roskill, and Whangaparoa. Customers paid $15 per bag for whatever was available that day. The number of fruits and vegetables you could pick was limited.

In this store vegetables that are typically rejected by supermarkets because they are not aesthetically pleasing were sold for $15. Magda worked as a volunteer at the Westgate market’s community workspace. She said Wendy Zhao began Perfectly Imperfect during Covid-19. She was shocked to learn that more than 40% of the produce was never even harvested because it did not have a good enough appearance. Her objective was to prevent the waste of 122,000 tonnes of food. The foods like broccoli and cauliflower are simply growing every day, so they are cherry-picked to sell and buy based on the orders for that particular week.

Wendy stated that about 130 families had signed up for the service. While some of them preferred to have the box delivered to them, others preferred to pick it up in person at the market. According to Wendy, her delivery partner has announced a price increase, which may result in customers’ orders no longer being delivered. She said that if she wanted to keep Perfectly Imperfect going, she would need community support.