Adelaide Plains grower Anthony de Ieso vents frustration over vegetables returned for minor defects
An Adelaide grower says he’s fed up with perfectly edible vegetables being returned for tiny defects — but says it’s not the supermarkets’ fault. TAKE OUR POLL
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A video of an Adelaide Plains vegetable grower voicing his frustrations over the rejection of his produce due to exacting consumer standards has been viewed thousands of times.
Anthony De Ieso farms as part of the family business Thorndon Park Produce, of which he is a fourth-generation grower.
He was also a finalist in the vegetable industry’s Young Grower of the Year awards this year. The business’s main distribution hub is at Waterloo Corner, with another property run at Gawler River, producing vegetables including spinach, silverbeet and radish.
This week Mr De Ieso had 120 crates, each containing 20 bunches of spring onions, rejected by a supermarket, which he did not wish to name. The produce was rejected due to a slight brown tinge on the bottom of some of the spring onions.
In the video, he shows the pallets being returned, before lifting up one of the spring onions.
“I want to show you guys what they’re rejecting it for — it’s for this brown skin right here,” Mr De Ieso says.
“We received several photos highlighting this brown skin. We apparently need major improvement, which affects the eating quality.
“There is no way anyone can eat these spring onions — they are completely bad for you. How dare we send them.”
Mr De Ieso then stops and tells the camera, “yes, there was a lot of sarcasm. I’m absolutely fed up with this. It’s important that you guys know, that the consumer knows.”
Mr De Ieso told The Advertiser having vegetables returned for minor defects was a regular occurrence.
“It’s happened at least four times this year,” he said. “If it’s just half a pallet, it’s not too bad, but when it’s a fairly substantial amount for really no reason, it hurts.”
Mr De Ieso said it was particularly hard to swallow because at least 70 per cent of the produce he sent off was in perfect condition.
He said the rejection added to an already challenging year, weatherwise.
“We’ve come out of a harsh winter that was really cold, making it hard to grow produce,” he said.
“Produce that would normally take three months to grow took five months.
“We’ve just trying to recover from that and get back to profitability. And it’s definitely an industry where there’s not a lot of room to move (with profit margins).”
Despite the challenge, Mr De Ieso says he does not blame supermarkets for the rejections.
“My issue is with the product specifications, which are set based on consumer data,” he said.
“I don’t have an issue with the supermarkets, or even the person who rejected the produce. I have an issue with the specifications that set the standards.
“That’s why I’m doing these (social media) posts. I feel there’s a missing link in communication between growers and the end of the supply chain.
“I actually put a post up saying ‘how good does this spinach look’, and it got a heap of likes and shares, yet it was spinach that had actually been rejected.”
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Mr De Ieso was able to rebunch and resell this week’s rejected spring onions, but he said this exercise actually cost him, rather than making the business any money.
He said even on a good day, when no produce was rejected, about 500 kilograms ended up as waste, in order to meet the market specifications.
“One of the best ways people can support local producers, if just being aware of how rainfall, drought, heat and cold all effect the way produce looks,” he said.
“If you notice a cosmetic issue with produce, I can guarantee it’s because of a change in the weather or climatic events. If the consumer is aware of this, it will help us to sell our products.”
