Harris Farm Markets’ marketing team, led by co-CEO, Tristan Harris, was announced as the winner of the Marketer of the Year Award 2015 on Wednesday, 13 May at the PMA Fresh Connections conference and trade show in Melbourne.

Independent greengrocer chain, Harris Farm, launched its Imperfect Picks product range in late 2014, billing it as Australia’s first-ever food waste reduction ‘ugly fruit’ marketing campaign.

The campaign set out to bring the issue of food waste to the public’s attention by highlighting the staggering percentage of fresh produce that does not leave the farm-gate, simply because it does not meet the strict aesthetic specifications of food retailers, even though it is perfectly good for eating and cooking.

Imperfect Picks was singled out by the judges as a pioneering, integrated and impactful campaign.

“We’d like to congratulate Harris Farm Markets on this outstanding campaign,” said John Hey, managing editor of Produce Plus. “The speed and quality of execution were impressive, and Imperfect Picks has created an exciting marketing outlet for that significant portion of a grower’s crop that does not meet retailers’ aesthetic standards. At the same time, the campaign has helped to actually grow fresh produce consumption.”

“PMA warmly congratulates Tristan and the Harris Farm Marketing Team on their excellent Imperfect Picks campaign,” said Michael Worthington, CEO of PMA Australia-New Zealand. “We know that food waste is a major problem, and that we need to do something about it. Harris Farm has not only taken action on the issue, they have taken it to another level with Imperfect Picks, and they’ll continue to do so.”

Harris (pictured) said winning the Marketer of the Year Award would spur the company on as it geared up to further expand the initiative. “Harris Farm Markets is really excited to win the PMA-Produce Plus Marketer of the Year Award for Imperfect Picks. The entire business got behind this campaign – the marketing team worked crazy hours, the buying team pulled out all stops and the store teams really brought the campaign to life enthusiastically in-store. There is now a palpable buzz in the business as all their hard work has been recognised in such a meaningful way by the industry.

“The campaign has been amazingly well received by our customers, and our growers have been thrilled with the ability to move previously unmarketable product. With a big milestone in terms of volume sold coming up and this award now to spur us on, we are going to redouble our efforts to drive this campaign forward. Stay tuned for Imperfect Picks 2.0!”

Now in its fourth year, the PMA-Produce Plus Marketer of the Year Award is the premier award for marketing in the Australasian fresh produce and floral industries.