“We believe what’s different about us is worth celebrating.”
This is a core value from Imperfect Foods, one of the companies David Rendall and I feature in the new book Pink Goldfish 2.0.
Not familiar with Imperfect Foods, here’s some background:
Each year millions of people struggle with hunger and food insecurity and each year millions of pounds of healthy and nourishing food are wasted. There are many reasons that food either spoils or is destroyed before it can be sold or used.
The first reason is just appearance. Odd or misshapen fruits and vegetables are rejected by grocery stores and, because of this, are usually destroyed or left to spoil by farmers.
Second, some foods are not the right size or shape for a specific use so they can’t be sold to a company to be used as an ingredient.
Third, sometimes farmers have too much of a particular item and there isn’t enough demand for it.
Fourth, when a company creates new packaging for a product, they stop selling the product in outdated packaging. These food products are often disposed of, even though there is nothing wrong with the contents, just the packaging.
Finally, some food can’t be sold to stores because they don’t want to stock items that are too close to their expiration date. To be clear, they haven’t expired, but the store only wants items that are a specified amount of time (like three months) from their expiration dates.
This is where Imperfect Foods comes in. They are on a mission to “eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone.” They purchase, organize, package, and sell a lot of the food that no one else will buy or sell.
As they explain on their website, “If food can be saved, we will save it. With every bite into a misshapen apple, short piece of pasta, or oversized egg we can shape our world for the better. We’re hungry for change and eager to reduce waste on the farm, at the store, and in the home.”
David Rendall and I love the way they talk about their work. They’ve “rescued” 139 million pounds of imperfect food. They have over 300,000 “imperfect” customers and 1,500 “imperfect” employees. Their imperfect company has sales of over $400 million and they won the Modern Retail Award in 2020.
One of their core values is “Be Imperfect.”
Shoutout to good friend and fellow speaker Marcey Rader who shared the picture below. Marcey is a devoted customer. She shared,
“Had to take a photo of my food delivery today. It’s a pink goldfish for sure! They take ugly fruits and veggies or things like bread that is a little too brown or foods that aren’t shaped right and sell them. They also will take back all their packaging, you just leave it at your door on the day of pickup. And it’s PINK!”
Imperfect Foods stands out in a sea of sameness and celebrates imperfections. Their flawed product makes them awesome.
What’s different about your company? How are you flawsome?
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Stan Phelps walks the walk. He stands out in the sea of sameness by modeling his own Differentiated Experience (DX) message: Differentiation isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you do and, more importantly, how and why you do it. Stan leverages his unique collection of 5,000+ case studies on customer, employee, and brand experience to engage audiences with informative learning-based experiences. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.
Find Stan’s in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops, and Goldfish tank programs at StanPhelps.com.