“Ugly Bundling” Increase Purchase of Unattractive Produce

Every day, food producers and retailers discard a significant amount of perfectly edible fruits and vegetables that do not meet appearance standards within the food supply chain, contributing to food waste.We examine an easy-to-implement solution to this type of retail food waste: an "ugly" bundling, where multiple types of unattractive produce are sold in a single package rather than individually.Across two online experimental studies, we demonstrate that "ugly" bundling increases the purchase likelihood of unattractive produce.We also show that consumers do not expect discounts for ugly bundling, offering additional commercial incentives.This research provides a clear managerial recommendation on the product packaging format for unattractive produce while addressing the issue of food waste within the food distribution system.