Supermarket’s new ‘wonky’ flower range stops imperfect stems going to waste

From this week, a UK supermarket will sell wonky flowers for the first time, after prolonged hot and dry weather stopped some blooms from developing properly

From this week, a UK supermarket will sell wonky flowers for the first time, after prolonged hot and dry weather stopped some blooms from developing properly

Beginning this week, the UK supermarket chain Morrisons will sell wonky flowers. The current hot weather and dry conditions have stopped some flowers from developing properly, which previously would have resulted in them going to waste.

The first wonky bouquets include British-grown sunflowers and statice, which is also known as sea lavender and which has a spray of small pink or lilac funnel-shaped flowers. These are deemed ‘wonky’ as they have shorter than normal stems due to the lack of rain over the last few weeks.

In the future, the chain will sell flowers as ‘wonky’ if they fail to develop for any reason, for example if they have crooked stems or smaller flower heads. Bouquets in the Wonky range will cost £3 compared to £5 for their ‘standard’ counterparts.

It would be a shame to see these beautiful stems go to waste just because they’re a few centimetres too short

Drew Kirk, category director for flowers at Morrisons said: “It would be a shame to see these beautiful stems go to waste just because they’re a few centimetres too short. Our wonky range helps growers and farmers reduce waste.”

Morrisons already sells wonky fruit and vegetables. In 2017, the Morrisons Wonky range comprised 20 lines and sold 500 tonnes each week. In 2018, the supermarket will increase the number of seasonal wonky lines to 33, and include wonky versions of ‘exotic’ fruit and vegetables, such as avocado.