An Australian TikToker who made a container dive in the back of a supermarket has revealed his huge amount of fresh fruit and vegetables.
In a now viral video, Luca Corby filmed herself and two friends rummaging through the bins at night with headlamps on and in disbelief at the amount of vegetables thrown away.
Mr Corby said the group went to a “small grocery store” and found potatoes, onions, carrots, spillage and a few ginger roots worth at least $20.
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In a now viral TikTok video, Luca Corby (pictured, center left) filmed herself and two friends searching through the bins with headlamps at night and were incredulous at the amount of vegetables thrown away.
“Food is expensive right now, so let’s go dumpster diving,” Mr. Corby said in the clip.
‘Look at this lettuce, it’s literally fresh. There are a few dead leaves on the outside, but the inside is all fresh.’
The group also managed to get hold of rhubarb, a few mandarins, oranges, a bunch of grapes and asparagus.
The next day, Mr. Corby said the vegetables had been washed and placed in the refrigerator.
‘Our fridge is stocked for the coming week. Our groceries for this week were essentially free,” he said.
“It’s crazy because we just went to a small supermarket, but you can imagine Coles and Woolworths throwing away so much stuff while families struggle to buy fresh vegetables.”
After 24 hours, the video went viral with over 124,000 views and over 370 comments.
In the comments, Mr Corby wrote: ‘I just want to add that the way we grow food could easily be more sustainable. We could invest in smallholder farmers and local gardens.
“But in the end, big companies just want to make a profit, so it’s up to us to organize and tackle our neighbors and communities.”
Hundreds were shocked by the amount of food thrown away by the supermarket.
“Just so you know ginger is worth about $50-70!” noted one person.
“So bad, especially when the cost of living is so insane,” added another.
A former supermarket worker wrote: ‘I used to work at Aldi and they throw away so much stuff. When I left, I dove into the dumpster and filled my entire ute.’
In another video, Mr Corby shared an image of the amount of food his friend found on another occasion when he dove into a container.
In another video, Mr Corby shared an image of the amount of food his friend found on another occasion when he dove into a container (Photo: The Food Collected)
Despite this, Woolworths and Coles both have campaigns to reduce food waste.
Coles has the ‘Together to Zero Waste’ initiative to minimize the amount of unsold food thrown away.
Woolworths has the Food Rescue and Recycling Program that helps stores ‘better identify and divert surplus fresh food from landfills’.
A Woolworths spokesperson told the Daily Mail Australia that the supermarket giant is trying to reduce food waste across the country.
“We are working hard to reduce food waste in our stores – it is not only the right thing to do, but also good business practice,” the spokesperson said.
“All of our stores have a food waste partnership so food that cannot be sold is still put to good use through donations to local hunger relief or animal feed charities and in April Woolworths and OzHarvest reached a milestone by donating the equivalent of 50 . million meals since the start of their partnership.
“In the past year alone, we’ve donated the equivalent of 25 million meals to our hunger relief partners to help feed Australians in need.
“We have set a goal to get 100 percent of food waste from landfills by 2025, and thanks to the support of our store teams, we have made good progress in recent years.
“We want more excess edible food to reach those in need and remain focused on deepening our partnerships with our existing hunger relief organizations.”
Coles is also committed to tackling food waste across the country.
‘As a food retailer, we love food and we don’t want it to go to waste. Our first choice for unsold edible food is to donate it to food rescue organizations SecondBite and Food Bank,” the spokesperson told the Daily Mail Australia.
“After that, we have other food waste solutions, including donations to farmers and animal or wildlife services, organic collections and in-store food disposal equipment.
“Every Coles supermarket and distribution center has a food waste solution, something we first achieved at the end of FY19.
“Through our partnership with SecondBite, Coles donates unsold edible food to more than 1,400 community groups across Australia to help Aussies in need.”
Since 2011, Coles supermarkets and distribution centers across Australia have supplied the equivalent of more than 185 million meals to SecondBite and its network of local food partners.