When was the last time you bought a bag of leafy greens only for it to languish at the back of your fridge before you remembered it existed? Or that bag of celery you needed for an Asian salmon dish that you no longer have a use for? As more Australians feel the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis, major supermarkets have come under fire for price gouging, taking advantage of customers, and profiting from food waste.
According to the Australia Institute, Australia wastes 7.6 tonnes of food each year, costing households $19.3 billion. And the worst part? Supermarkets make $1.2 billion in profit from this waste. However, there is an alternative, and one resourceful Aussie mum has put a stop to it, challenging the supermarket giants with her new sellout invention: the Produce Pod.
The Birth of the Produce Pod
The Produce Pod was created when founder Fiona Raphael realised that a damp cotton bag inside a PUL bag could keep veggies fresh in the fridge for up to six weeks. Her first experiment involved a bunch of mint that had been forgotten about. “When I remembered the mint three weeks later, I was totally shocked to find it in pristine condition. This was when I started getting a bit excited. I thought you don’t forget about a bunch of mint and find it pristine after three weeks, this is not normal,” Fiona told 7You. “I ended up keeping the mint for over six weeks. At six weeks, ninety per cent of the bunch was still fresh and green. I thought, wow, this is actually quite a big discovery!”
A Solution to Food Waste
A passionate sustainability advocate, Fiona realised this product had huge potential to save Australians thousands on their groceries over its lifespan by reducing food waste. Upon reading the food waste report from the Australia Institute, Fiona found that the average household wastes around $2,500 worth of food each year, which equates to $48 per week.
Since launching the reusable produce bag that keeps fruit and veggies fresh for weeks in 2022, Produce Pod has seen incredible revenue growth over the past 12 months as more people try to make their weekly groceries stretch further. Over the past year, revenue has increased sevenfold, with the business now making seven figures annually.
“As the cost-of-living pressure in Australia has intensified over the past 12 months, we’ve seen Produce Pod sales boom, and we’re hearing it in our reviews too. People are talking about saving money, not just saving their veggies,” Fiona said. Shoppers are loving that their veggies are lasting for weeks, greatly reducing or even eliminating the issue of rotting produce.
Versatile and Stylish
The Produce Pod also acts as a fridge storage solution, with its bright and colourful designs adding a splash of colour to the kitchen decor. It is popular with caravanners who lack fridge storage and people who live rurally and need to keep their produce fresh for longer between grocery runs.
“A lot of people are storing their produce in packaging from the supermarket, and unfortunately that is a really big part of the problem. Plastic traps condensation, which leads to rotting,” Fiona said. “Produce Pod uses a dual-layer design that keeps the right level of moisture while allowing condensation to escape, so you don’t get that build-up and vegetables stay fresh for weeks instead of days. Instead of throwing out spoiled produce and replacing it, you actually get to use what you buy.”
For more information, visit the Produce Pod website.
