Food Unfiltered aimed to reduce the amount of food waste produced by cosmetic filtering and the discarding of perfectly edible food that appears ‘ugly’ or less than perfect according to personal or perceived market standards. The team believes in embracing the natural goodness of food, regardless of their external appearances, and wanted to educate and empower Singaporeans to look beyond slight external blemishes, and see ugly food for what it is — just as edible and nutritious as better looking food.

Based on a study by the team, it was found that almost 40% of food around the world never make it from farm to fork due to imperfect appearances. In addition, 68.1% of Singaporeans surveyed by the team were unwilling to purchase ugly food, with many erroneously believing that ugly food is less fresh, poses health risks, has lower nutritional content and is less tasty.

The team hit the streets to find out if what people feel about food affects the way the food tastes. Watch the video below:

The Highlights

The Food Unfiltered campaign achieved a major milestone by securing a partnership with Sheng Siong Group, a key stakeholder in the local grocery retail industry. This saw the campaign’s poster put up at all Sheng Siong supermarkets islandwide.

The campaign also achieved notable media coverage through major local dailies Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao, online new outlets (Coconuts Singapore and The Independent), the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, and other sustainability education sites. The campaign was also recognised alongside other well-established sustainability groups, and was invited to be an Official Outreach Partner for the first Asian edition of Feeding The 5000.

The Memories

Redistributing rescued fresh fruits and vegetables together with Food Bank Singapore.
Interacting with residents in the heartland at one of the campaign roadshows.
Attracting interest through a range of eye-catching collaterals.
Dispelling misconceptions about ugly food through interesting activities such as taste tests.

Reflection #1 – The Challenges

The team faced the challenge of securing strategic partnerships and sponsorships that could help give the campaign the scale required to make a nationwide impact. While the team managed to secure this eventually, the team intended for greater participation from key figures such as chefs and F&B establishments. In addition, the short, fixed timeline of the campaign also meant that interest groups and community centres who were interested in working with the campaign were unable to do so as they were limited by their workplans.

Reflection #2 – The Takeaways

  • Media coverage is an effective platform for initiatives to establish legitimacy and gain greater reach, which may in turn facilitate the ease of pitching to and securing partners. Budding campaigns should engage in regular media pitching to keep the campaign and its focus salient.
  • Creative, original and research-based content should also be prioritised by campaigns as an effective outreach tool, which is useful to establish the campaign’s legitimacy and branding.
  • Strategic partnerships are crucial to large-scale campaigns. Tapping onto partners’ brand reputations, resources and expertise will make campaign planning more strategic and streamlined. To maximise the success of securing partnerships, campaign planners should reach out to prospective organisations in its early stages. This will minimise the issue of scheduling conflicts, and allow more time to explore the available opportunities with interested parties.