A day for fruit rescue!

The 1st of every month is Mottanai Fruits Day or “Don’t Waste Fruit” Day (もったいないフルーツの日). It is a recently established anniversary, created by Dole Japan with the aim of drawing attention to "mottanai fruits" - perfectly edible fruits that are discarded. Commendably, Dole runs a variety of projects to rescue these fruits!

“Mottainai fruits” are fruits that are discarded for reasons such as not meeting strict size or appearance standards, being slightly overripe, or having minor cosmetic damage. Dole’s philosophy is that no fruit should be wasted if it is still delicious and nutritious. The company believes that growers, distributors, and consumers can all be happier when food is used responsibly.

Dole try to sell "rescued fruit" as affordable produce or process them into juices, jams, smoothies and snacks, including Dole's own products “Mottainai Banana” and “Mottainai Banana Jam.”. Additionally, they donate them to welfare facilities or as animal feed at zoos. They are even supplied to research institutions and power plants as biomass energy.  Have you rescued any fruit lately!?