Character Veggies: Non-standard vegetables are unique! Challenging food loss through value transformation

Urikuri, a project team at Dentsu Inc. CXCC (Customer Experience Creative Center), combines creativity with 'how to sell' to create new points of contact with products for a broader range of consumers than before, making them like the products more and increasing sales.

This team conceived the "Character Veggies" project, featuring "non-standard vegetables"—a factor contributing to food loss—by attaching face stickers to vegetables to create "personality," enhance their value, and boost sales.

In this article, Takuya Fujita of CXCC, one of the project creators, shares the background behind the idea, details a workshop held at a kindergarten in Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture, and discusses the potential of irregularly shaped vegetables and future business opportunities.

<Table of Contents>

▼ "Unsellable Non-Standard Vegetables" Total 1.8 Million Tons Annually! A New Approach to Selling Them

▼From a Small-Scale "Character × Sticker" Idea to a Design That Transforms Agricultural Value

▼Vegetable Sales Support Agriculture in Developing Countries! Local Non-Standard Vegetables Make a Global Contribution

▼80% of participants said "I want to buy the Character Veggie Kit!" Workshop at Ikoma City kindergarten receives rave reviews

▼To spread the power of Character Veggies more widely throughout society

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"Unsellable non-standard vegetables" total 1.8 million tons annually! A new approach to selling

One problem Japanese farmers face is the disposal of non-standard vegetables. This means vegetables that don't meet market specifications for shape, size, or color—even if perfectly edible—cannot be shipped to supermarkets or greengrocers and end up discarded. Domestically, this is said to generate a staggering 1.8 million tons of food loss annually.

In recent years, approaches have emerged where producers sell non-standard vegetables directly to consumers through online shops and other channels. However, these efforts still operate under the negative premise that being "non-standard" is inherently undesirable.

The CXCC project team "Urikuri" wondered: Instead of devaluing vegetables as non-standard, could we create a new motivation that directly drives purchases by instead assigning positive value to being non-standard?

From a small-scale "character × sticker" idea, we designed a concept that could also transform the value of agriculture.

This led to the "Character Veggies" project. The idea is to add "personality" by attaching stickers with playful facial features to vegetables, allowing consumers to enjoy the inherent "character" of irregularly shaped vegetables themselves, encouraging purchase and consumption.

This project has three key points.

The first point is designing it as a familiar item: "Character × Sticker." Simply adding a face to an object naturally makes people feel attached to it. Especially in Japan, where manga and anime are deeply rooted in the culture, people tend to feel a strong affinity for "character traits." Charavege attracts interest, particularly among families, fostering familiarity and helping them feel closer to irregularly shaped vegetables.

Second, Charavege enables a "small-scale start." Since it involves the simple action of just applying a sticker, it's well-suited for experimental introductions. Its ease of implementation at roadside stations, supermarkets, online shops, and any other location is a key advantage, allowing various players to handle it in ways that suit their specific needs.

The final point is that it contributes to "transforming the value of irregularly shaped vegetables." Some people suggest, "It's wasteful to discard irregularly shaped vegetables, so why not sell them?" However, when researching the actual perspectives and approaches of farmers toward these vegetables, we found a gap between this common perception and reality.

For example, we heard opinions like these:

• There are many different types of non-standard vegetables, and some truly are inedible.
• Vegetables left in the field serve an important role as fertilizer; they aren't simply discarded.
• Selling substandard produce risks driving down prices for standard-grade items, which isn't profitable in the long run.

Even considering this background, if Charavege's purpose is framed solely as "let's utilize discarded irregular vegetables because it's wasteful," the gap in perception between the public and farmers remains unbridged. Therefore, Charavege considered whether new value could be created by shifting the perspective from viewing them as "irregular vegetables" (a negative connotation) to seeing them as "unique vegetables" with distinctive shapes, sizes, and colors (a positive connotation).

Additionally, by developing as a food education kit that informs people about agriculture and the current state of non-standard vegetables, we believe it is possible to deepen understanding of primary industries, create opportunities to encounter non-standard vegetables, and lead to a shift in traditional values.

Vegetable sales support agriculture in developing countries! Local irregular vegetables contribute globally

We designed Charavege not only to contribute to primary industries in Japanese regions but also to connect to food education from a global perspective. The mechanism involves donating a portion of the sales from non-standard vegetables sold through Charavege to support vegetable gardens in developing countries via "TABLE FOR TWO".
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" TABLE FOR TWO " is a specific non-profit organization tackling both hunger in developing countries and obesity/lifestyle diseases in developed nations simultaneously. It implements Japan-originated social contribution movements like the "TABLE FOR TWO" program, which donates one meal to a developing country for every meal consumed in a developed country.

By eating non-standard vegetables in Japan, consumers contribute to agricultural and food support for farmers and children in developing countries. This mechanism not only supports Japanese agriculture but also fosters a global perspective on food while enabling practical contributions.

80% of participants said, "I want to buy the Charabegi Kit!" Workshop at a kindergarten in Ikoma City that was well-received

While seeking locations to see how "Charavege" would be received by consumers, the SDGs Promotion Division of Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture, expressed interest. With their cooperation, a Charavege workshop was held at Ikoma City Tawaraguchi Kindergarten in February 2023, allowing many kindergarteners and their parents to experience Charavege.

The workshop featured a fun quiz competition themed "Save Vegetables from Food Loss!" Participants learned about the challenges of irregularly shaped vegetables and the Character Vegetables initiative while interacting with diverse irregular vegetables provided by the Ikoma City Agricultural Promotion Council, including daikon radish, turnips, green onions, carrots, mandarin oranges, and lemons.

The children were fascinated by these vegetables, differing in size and shape from those typically seen in supermarkets. They created various expressions (smiling, angry, crying, confused, smirking, surprised, goofy, etc.) by adjusting how they placed face stickers to match the vegetables' shapes. They also applied band-aid-shaped stickers to chipped or cracked parts, sharing and laughing with friends as they showed off their creations. They enjoyed creating these imaginative character vegetables, designing them as if they were their favorite toys. The finished character vegetables were then taken home and enjoyed as delicious meals by each family.

Additionally, alongside the workshop, we sold the non-standard vegetables provided by the Ikoma City Agricultural Promotion Council with a donation included. Using these donations, we supported children in developing countries through TABLE FOR TWO. This resulted in 100 school meals being donated to developing countries.

In a post-workshop survey, when asked, "If you saw a Karavege kit (containing irregularly shaped vegetables and stickers) at a supermarket, would you consider buying it?", 80% of participants answered "Yes, I would buy it." Through the fun experience of "Karavege," many children and their parents learned about the challenges of irregularly shaped vegetables and food loss.

To further spread the power of Karavegi throughout society

We believe Charavege can be utilized by various players, including agricultural cooperatives, local governments, retailers, and manufacturers. Its potential applications are broad and extend beyond straightforward implementations like supermarket food sections.

For example, packaging it as an educational kit could open opportunities in book or toy sections. Applying this educational kit concept to restaurants could lead to developments like children's food education menus. We envision it becoming a product that is delicious, fun, educational, and also helps parents keep children engaged during their time at the restaurant.

Furthermore, we believe it has high affinity with IP (※).

※ = IP
Abbreviation for Intellectual Property (IP), referring to valuable intellectual assets such as ideas, creativity, and content created by individuals or companies.

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For events like anime conventions, sports events, or live performances, we could produce character, athlete, or artist face stickers as merchandise. These could be sold in sets with locally sourced irregularly shaped vegetables and Charavege, tied to the IP's regional connections. This approach elevates the initiative into a social action where IPs and fans unite to support local producers, reduce food waste, and contribute to food aid for developing countries. Most importantly, fans gain the benefit of an unprecedented merchandise purchasing experience.

The Character Veg initiative is still in its early stages. We aim to actively collaborate with various partners, release products in unexpected ways, and explore diverse approaches to unlock Character Veg's potential. Our goal is to achieve enjoyable and sustainable social contributions.