One of the questions I get most these days is: why upcycling? This comes from both those who want to know why we created a food upcycling consultancy as a line of business and from those who want to understand why their company should invest on it too.
According to the Upcycled Food Association from USA, an association of which we are a member: “upcycled foods are made from ingredients that would otherwise be food waste. Waste destinations are when food ends up in places like incinerators, animal feed, landfills or in anaerobic digesters”. “Upcycled foods use ingredients that would not otherwise have gone into human consumption, are sourced and produced using verifiable supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment.”
We don’t have a translation for “upcycling” in Portuguese, it’s not recycling, sorry Google. We will get familiar with it (or create a term in Portuguese, who knows?)
There are companies that were already betting on food upcycling long before the term was even recognized, ingredients such as whey protein and passion fruit peel flour are examples of this. At Eat Innovation we love the topic so much that we’ve written over 20 articles on examples of creative and impactful upcycling, but at that time we called “waste management” too broad term that didn’t do justice to upcycling. You may read some of them here.
Passion fruit peel flour: remember it? Still for sale!
In 2017, I wrote a post only about products made with upcycled ingredients with the title “Innovation with food leftovers: profit and sustainability together” (you can read it here), it is part of those posts I wrote before spending 4 years away from blog and did not publish at the time. I finally published it in 2022, but I kept the content untouched because it reflects the beginning of the trend, when it didn’t even had a name. You know when we say “I liked it before it became fashion”? So, that’s about it!
And food waste can also be used in other industries, the sky is the limit (innovation is still going strong here!). Fruit pits that are not edible can be used in industries such as construction, for example. There are still barks, stalks and much more that are waiting to be valued in the most innovative uses that science allows. Yes, valued! Upcycling is valuing, elevating waste to another status.
Reducing food losses and waste is essential, especially in a country like Brazil, which wastes around 27 million tons of food a year.
Knowing all this, it’s easy to understand why we invest in it. But why should you and your company look for it too?
Upcycled food is a way for anyone to avoid food waste through the products they buy. Goal 12 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure sustainable patterns of production and consumption. The goal is, by 2030, to halve the world’s per capita food waste, including post-harvest losses. It includes encouraging companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and, last but not least, supporting developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacities to shift to more sustainable patterns of production and consumption.
Consumers today understand that these products are not “trash” but that they are part of a greater commitment to sustainability. However, we still need to keep communicating clearly why these products are different and, of course, we need to create innovative and attractive products.
To sum up, I make Gustavo Porpino’s words my own: “Producing in Brazil is expensive and, without overcoming some obstacles inherent to the Brazil cost, we will remain strong only as large producers of commodities, but with low added value. Without strategic level communication, the behavioral changes necessary to build a world with less waste and more social justice will not occur.”
We will produce a lot of content on the topic, honor new companies and products and create many food upcycling solutions. Count on me and Upcycling Solutions to value your company’s waste and build a sustainable future. Let’s do it together?
Upcycling Solutions is our new venture, a company that was born with a purpose and that comes to add to our older sister company, PROInnoverse. Discover our services at www.upcyclingsolutions.com.br, the first website specialized in upcycling in Brazil!
Sources: Condomínios Verdes, Food Business News, G1
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