Save $2,000 a Year on Groceries with The Swag Produce Bags
In 2025, with grocery prices higher than ever and sustainability on everyone’s minds, wasting fresh food isn’t just frustrating - it’s expensive. The average Australian household throws away $2,000 of food each year, much of it fruit and vegetables that go limp, wilt, or spoil before you get to use them. That’s money you could save, meals you could enjoy, and food that doesn’t need to end up in landfill.
The Swag cotton produce bag is designed to solve exactly that problem. Made from natural, breathable materials, it creates the perfect environment to keep your fruit and veggies fresher for longer. It’s not just anecdotal anymore either - The Swag is scientifically proven to extend produce life by up to 38% longer than plastic and has been shown to pay for itself in just two weeks of use.
Let’s dig into how.
How much does food waste cost?
Food waste doesn’t just impact your wallet. In Australia alone, 3.2 million tonnes of food are wasted by households each year. That’s roughly $19.3 billion worth of food that ends up in the bin, and 42% of it is fresh fruit and vegetables.
When that food breaks down in landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 10 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. In fact, food waste in landfill contributes to 10% of global emissions, more than flying, oil extraction, and plastic production combined.
So, when you throw out wilted spinach or mouldy broccoli, you’re not just throwing away your grocery budget, you’re also contributing to a much bigger environmental problem.
The Swag reusable produce bag: Proven to pay for itself in two weeks
We ran the numbers with the help of an in-house mathematician. Here’s what we found:
- The average Australian household wastes $2,000 of food per year.
- 42% of this is fruit and vegetables - that’s $840 of spoiled produce every year.
- Spread over 26 fortnights, that’s about $32.27 of fresh fruit and veggies wasted every two weeks.
A Large Swag costs little more than that (especially with our 10% welcome discount - sign up at the bottom of this page!). This means it starts paying for itself in around just two weeks of use if you use it to its full capacity.
For New Zealand households, the math is similar:
- NZ households waste around NZD$1,520 worth of food every year, with 41% of that being fresh produce - that’s about $623 of fruit and veggies wasted annually.
- Broken down, this is roughly $24 of spoiled produce every fortnight. At that rate, a Small Swag pays for itself in two weeks, while a Large Swag pays for itself in under a month when used to its full capacity.”
That’s just the beginning. Because The Swag is designed to last for years, those savings keep adding up over time - easily reaching $2,000+ per household per year.
Explore and shop The Swag products.
The science behind The Swag
For years, customers have been telling us The Swag keeps their fruit and veggies fresh for weeks. But there’s also data to back that up.
We partnered with Australia’s Applied Horticultural Research to test The Swag’s effectiveness. Researchers compared produce stored in The Swag with produce stored:
- In a plastic bag
- In a paper bag
- With no packaging in a domestic fridge
They focused on three types of produce that are notoriously quick to spoil:
- Broccolini
- Blueberries
- Parsley
Here’s what they found:
- Blueberries lasted 38% longer in The Swag compared to being stored in their original punnet.
- Broccolini lasted 25% longer in The Swag than in plastic.
- Leafy herbs like parsley stayed fresh for more than two weeks and even reabsorbed moisture in later weeks when The Swag was kept damp.
- Produce stayed marketable for over two weeks and edible for up to four weeks.
The study concluded that The Swag provides “major quality improvements over storing vegetables in paper bags, plastic, or no packaging.”
How The Swag works
The Swag’s effectiveness comes down to its unique three-layer design:
- Outer layer: Keeps your fridge clean and provides light insulation.
- Middle layer: Holds moisture to create a breathable, hydrated environment for produce.
- Inner layer: Gently protects fruit and vegetables while allowing air circulation.
This balance of hydration and ventilation slows the wilting process, reduces dehydration, and even helps revive veggies that are starting to soften.
Less waste, more savings
Switching to The Swag is a small change that has a big impact:
💰 Save thousands over time: Preventing just $32 of waste every fortnight adds up to over $800 a year - enough to pay for your Swags many times over.
🌍 Cut your environmental footprint: Keeping produce fresh means less food rotting in landfill, less plastic packaging, and fewer trips to the shop.
🌱 Simplify your kitchen: With produce lasting weeks longer, meal planning becomes easier and fresher.
