Seems like a silly question, but I’ve always wondered! Do baby carrots grow on their own? Do they make them by hand? How do they get to that delicious snacking shape?
Well according to Food Network, baby carrots first hit the food scene in the 1980s as the brainchild of a California farmer who felt bad about throwing away carrots that had deformities and couldn’t be sold at grocery stores. They were still perfectly fine to eat, but didn’t look right to sell to customers. Poor little things.
Rather than waste them all and throw the away he decided to chop them into 2-inch portion sizes… and “baby carrot” was born! It became such a huge hit product throughout the 80s that carrot sales went through the roof for decades. People found them great for snacking and dipping, but also it cut down on food waste. A win-win! Long live the baby carrot.
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