Description
As the saying goes, one man’s trash
is another man’s treasure. Last
week, one of the world’s richest
companies, Amazon, announced
it had invested in new Canadian
start-up Genecis Bioindustries – which has
found a way to convert food waste into a
biodegradable alternative to conventional
plastics.
This deal will not only provide Amazon
customers with the option to purchase
products that use biodegradable and
recyclable packaging, but will contribute to
its $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund to achieve
net-zero carbon by 2040.
It is not the only company seeing the
potential for repurposing waste – according
to the latest Future Market Insights (2022),
the global food waste market size is valued at
$53 billion and growing.
The UK alone produces around 9.5 million
tonnes of food waste (2018, WRAP) leading
many food businesses to focus on how to
drive such efficiencies within their supply
chain.
United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals are encouraging more firms to
reduce waste, use recycling/upcycling and
redistribution – including Goal 12, which
seeks to halve per capita food waste and
reduce food loss by 2030.
It’s an ambitious aim, but it has increased
focus on innovation activity within food
businesses – to assess their food waste,
how it is currently disposed of and whether
something could be done with it to add value
and/or potentially deliver a new revenue
stream for the business.
The upcycling of food, means “ingredients
that otherwise would not have gone to human
consumption, are procured and produced using
verifiable supply chains, and have a positive
impact on the environment” (Upcycled Food
Association, 2020).
Food Upcycling is not in of itself a new
concept but as a result we are witnessing
the introduction of new technologies and
processes being used to tackle the challenge
of food waste.
For example, Food Navigator recently
reported how a Danish food tech startup was implementing new controlled
fermentation techniques by processing
ingredients in bioreactors to produce organic
flavour enhancers.
This resulted in the production of a
fermented sauce which is made using spent
chickens (those at the end of their egg laying
cycle) combined with koji and barely grain,
to provide the necessary fungus for the
fermentation to take place.
Another example includes the use of
brewing technology for the processing of fats
and oils. Funded by the Good Food Institute
(GFI), university researchers are using
discarded crops like corn husks to create gas
which is then used to feed microbes within
the fermentation process, resulting in the
production of lipids.
While the use of such technologies requires
a substantial investment of capital, the
concept of food upcycling should not be
ignored.
Over the past year, Ulster University
Business School (UUBS) and Southern
Regional College have been working in
collaboration with several local food
businesses on a Connected NI project to
determine whether food waste could be
upcycled.
Working alongside Whites Oats, Long
Meadow Cider, Simply Fruit, Baladi Foods,
Roy Lyttle Ltd and Early Days, the UUBS MSc
Food Design and Innovation and the BSc
Consumer Management and Food Innovation
students were tasked to develop a nutritious
and affordable plant-based snack product for
children.
This resulted in a range of new product
concepts, including fruit butter using
discarded peels, vegan meringues and mayo
using the aquafaba waste, crackers using oat
bran waste and vegetable wraps using the
tops and tails cut from leeks.
This bank of product concepts is currently
going through a feasibility study within Early
Days Foods Ltd with initial interest from its
current customers.
Brenda Kelleghan, Innovation & Technology
Manager at Southern Regional College,
stated: “This sustainable project was a
perfect example of how collaboration
between industry, academia and students
can work together and create innovative
solutions, supporting our local food and
drinks industry.
“The project has yielded excellent
results for all partners involved and the
development of zero value waste products
from each of the companies has helped
them to identify new profitable
opportunities.”
While it is vital for companies in this FMCG
market to keep abreast of key trends like
sustainability and understand how they may
impact on their business, it is also important
to keep the consumer at the forefront of your
mind as their acceptance and willingness
to buy upcycled food products remains
imperative.
A recent Mintel report on Sustainability in
Food UK (2023) highlighted that “46 per cent
of those that buy sustainable food/drink state
that they would prefer a more sustainable,
synthetically produced food product over a less
sustainable naturally produced one”.
In addition, those that displayed a keen
interest in sustainability were likely to be
more open to the use of novel ingredients.
Such findings give rise to possible
consumer acceptance of upcycled food
products but may not be enough on its own
to secure success as with any new food
product it must also deliver on flavour and
price. For further enquiries about the services
and facilities available at UUBS to support
the food and drink industry please contact [email protected]
Period | 9 Mar 2023 |
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Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title Would you pay more for wasted food? Degree of recognition Regional Media name/outlet Farm Week Media type Print Duration/Length/Size 800 words Country/Territory United Kingdom Date 9/03/23 Producer/Author Dr L Hollywood Persons Lynsey Elizabeth Hollywood