One third of global food is wasted, with 62 million tons in the US alone. Companies are upcycling food waste into new products, such as Misfit Juicery’s juice made from defective produce and Toast Ale made from surplus bread. Consumers are willing to buy and pay more for these products.
A third of all food produced globally ends up spoiled before it can be eaten. In the United States, 62 million tons of food end up in dumpsters each year, worth an estimated $218 million in lost opportunity. To combat this urgent but solvable problem, a number of companies are taking unused food and repurposing it into perfectly good food and drink, a process known as “upcycling” food waste. A recent survey conducted by Drexel University’s Department of Culinary Arts and Food Sciences found that consumers are generally willing to buy and consume these products, and many people are even willing to pay more for them.
Juices, soups and beer:
Food is wasted in a variety of ways including spoilage in transit, rejection by markets due to appearance, and edible food being thrown away as waste during the manufacturing process.
Misfit Juicery, based in Washington, DC, takes defective fruits and vegetables and turns them into cold-pressed juice. A Dutch company called Barstensvol turns excess vegetables into soup.
In the UK, Toast Ale is made from surplus bread – unsold loaves and waste from the packaged sandwich processes. Rubies in the Rubble turns scraps into ketchup, spiced chutney and pickles.
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