A farming family in Nieuwendijk, North Brabant, is giving away a bumper crop of green beans after their buyer refused to take the surplus, the AD reported on Wednesday.

Arjan and Anneke de Graaf said they are inviting people to fill their own bags and buckets this Saturday in exchange for a voluntary contribution.

The couple, who supply beans under contract, said their buyer takes 14 tonnes per hectare. But this year’s harvest produced 20 tonnes per hectare, leaving them with around 100,000 kilos extra.

Normally the additional crop would be bought at a fair price, but with cold stores still full from last year’s strong harvest, the company said no.

“That’s understandable from their point of view, but it leaves us with a huge surplus,” Arjan de Graaf told local media. “It would be a shame to have to chop the beans up and work them back into the soil.”

Local campaigner Jacoline Peek, who promotes regional produce through the platform Fietsen voor m’n eten Altena, recorded a video appeal urging supermarkets, farm shops and wholesalers to step in. “These beans are healthy, fresh and delicious. It’s a waste to let them go,” she told the paper.

De Graaf estimated the extra crop could have brought in around €30,000, but said his main concern is preventing food waste. “We know we won’t get rid of 100,000 kilos this way, but if people from the area can enjoy them, that’s already great,” he said.

The farm will open its fields on Saturday 30 August from 9am at Gijsbertweg in Nieuwendijk.

Dutch farmers have previously offered unwanted cherry tomatoes, plums and other fruit and vegetables to people willing to pick them themselves.