6 Product Launches With Upcycled Food Ingredients

The joys of TikTok are manifold, as those of you lucky enough to still have access to that wondrous time gobbler, will no doubt agree with. But once in a while, there pops up a fairly cringe-worthy and heartbreaking trend that you can’t ignore and that just makes you wonder what is wrong with the world (other than the obvious, of course). Throwing perfectly good food into the trash has become somewhat of a trend in these intentional food waste videos, which show things like people cutting up watermelons, peeling bananas, chopping avocado – and then chucking them in a garbage bin!

And that brings me to our topic for the week: 29 September 2020 is going to be the first-ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, an initiative launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to highlight ways to reduce food waste.

One method that has garnered significant interest and has resulted in a lot of innovation is “upcycling” of byproducts from food processing.

In the last two years, interest in this topic has grown by a whopping 1074.6%, based on Spoonshot data.

In the last 12 months, upcycling received an industry organization, a formal definition, and soon a certification program to help consumers identify upcycled foods.

This year, despite the pandemic, a number of companies have launched food and drink products made from upcycled food ingredients, in what is a ray of hope in light of the TikTok food waste videos.

Here are some products with upcycled food ingredients, proving that making a profit and saving the world don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Tia Lupita and Renewal Mill have launched upcycled tortillas made from organic okara flour.

These are a high-fiber, gluten-free flour produced from the pulp leftover from soy milk processing.

Hidden Gems: Drinks made with upcycled avocado seeds

Philadelphia-based beverage company Hidden Gems launched their first range of drinks, called Reveal, made from upcycled avocado seeds.

Goodfish has launched a better-for-you snack made from salmon skins.

Salmon skins are usually discarded as a byproduct of the seafood industry.

Inner Life! has launched a prebiotic drink mix made from Arabinoxylan.

Arabinoxylan, a prebiotic fiber extracted from upcycled wheat crop leftovers, to support digestive health and immunity.

Riff’s Alter Ego is a range of drinks brewed from dried upcycled coffee fruit called cascara.

Cascara is the naturally sweet and caffeinated fruity pulp that surrounds the coffee bean before it is processed. The brand was launched in 2019, and this year, it expanded its portfolio with two new products.

And finally, one fabulous treat that features upcycled food, but isn’t to eat…

An Italian women’s luxury footwear startup is using upcycled materials such as apple and grape leather to make sustainable footwear.

The shoes feature an upper and bow made from upcycled apple skin, as well as a lining and an insole made from upcycled grape skin (byproducts of wine processing).

These brands are doing their bit to help combat a major global problem and are an inspiration in creative, actionable solutions. Stay safe & waste not!