Anti food waste organisation No Waste Army has “saved”100,000 kilos of beans following last minute cancellations by supermarkets.

Farmer Kees Schoenmakers, who had a verbal agreement with supermarkets to sell his produce, was at a loss to shift 100,000 kilos of green beans, spokesman Thibaud van der Steen told local broadcaster Omroep Brabant.

Van der Steen said the position Schoenmakers found himself in is “no exception”. “Farmers and growers are always at a disadvantage. Perhaps the harvest is late or buyers find a cheaper alternative abroad. That means the Dutch farmers are stuck,” he told the broadcaster.

No Waste Army managed to sell all the beans within 48 hours via food platforms where people buy the beans cheaply for local food banks, and a packaged meal maker, which bought the first 1,000 kilos.