Supermarket Morrisons has extended its range of wonky produce to flowers after the prolonged hot and dry weather stopped some varieties from developing properly.
The retailer said it was selling the wonky flowers to help growers and prevent waste, and followed the success of its wonky fruit and vegetable lines.
The wonky bouquets might have shorter or crooked stems or smaller flower heads and cost £3 compared with the regular £5.
The first wonky bouquet is made up of British sunflowers and statice, also known as sea lavender, which have shorter stems than usual due to the lack of rain over the last few weeks.
Morrisons earned praise from many environmentalists when its wonky range was initially launched earlier this year, with one Catholic eco-theologian thanking the supermarket for looking past any harmless blemishes and seeing the fruit and veg’s real quality.
“Thanks to Morrisons for reducing the price of food while maintaining its inherent quality despite its appearance,” Dr Edward Echlin, an Honorary Fellow at Leeds Trinity University told The Universe in April.
He pointed out that the initiative reduced waste on farms while allowing customers to purchase the food, which, despite being ‘wonky’ is still of the highest quality, for a cut down price.
Speaking about extending the range to flowers, Drew Kirk, category director for flowers at Morrisons, said: “It would be a shame to see these beautiful stems go to waste just because they’re a few centimetres too short.
“Our wonky range helps growers and farmers reduce waste and at the same time helps customers to afford to buy flowers more often.”
Morrisons said it sold 500 tonnes of wonky produce a week last year and is increasing the number of seasonal lines to 33 this year.
Picture: A customer shops for flowers in a Morrisons store in Rochdale. (Jon Super/PA).
