Alimentos Procesados
Ene. 13, 20223 categorías de alimentos emergentes para el 2022
As consumers demand their food and beverages to be more sustainable, the area of upcycling is also
rapidly gaining in popularity for brands to boost their sustainability credentials, with various companies
opting to utilise their food waste to make value-added products.
The upcycling trend is growing steadily in Asia-Pacific, with companies such as New Zealand’s LILO which
makes desserts from discarded ‘ugly fruits’, international fruit giant Dole which has established a new
operational arm focusing solely on upcycling fruit waste, and Japan’s Keishindo which uses discarded
shrimp heads to turns them into shrimp snacks.
“The time has come where we simply can’t ignore the fruit waste problem anymore. There has been increasing
awareness from government and research institutions into the volume of fruit loss and a generation coming of
age who realises it is our responsibility to do better, creating more resilient food systems,” said LILO General
Manager Cleo Gilmour.
“Consumers are also seeking more innovative products with food choices a growing part of your social identity,
[and] New Zealand’s strong agriculture industry makes it a suitable environment for upcycling foods.
“With some of the world’s best, most nutritionally dense fruit thanks to our unique growing conditions and thin
ozone, we have a huge opportunity to focus on value-add products that deliver health and immunity benefits.”
LILO believes it can fill the gap between the orchard’s excess fruit and consumer demand for healthier,
convenient products. It will be making product launches, including its Dessert 2.0 plant-based cheesecakes
across New Zealand supermarkets and a Party Mix of natural New Zealand dried fruits, locally in early
2022, and looking to export later in the year.
Global fruit and fruit products heavyweight Dole has also zoomed in on upcycling as a major area of focus
for it in 2022, having partnered with the Singaporean government and academics to set up a specialised
business arm, Dole Specialty Ingredients, which focuses purely on using fruit waste from Dole fruit
products to make new high-value items.
A pilot upcycling facility has been set up in the Philippines within existing Dole facilities, whereas
management and innovation will take place in Singapore.
“Dole generates about a million tonnes of fruit side streams yearly, [including] peels, seeds, pomace, stems and
other parts of the bananas, pineapples and papayas grown in our orchards, not to mention fruits which have
been rejected due to imperfections,” Dole Specialty Ingredients Managing Director Wei Tze Ooi said.
“This business model is being tried and tested [to reduce the food waste generated], and instead we will try to use
these to make specialty ingredients including enzymes, extracts, oils, fibres and more for use in various industries
including F&B.”
Commercial launch of these upcycled products has been planned for the second half of 2022.
Over in Japan, Executive Managing Director at Keishindo Yuji Mitsuda said the country is still in the early
phases of the upcycling trend and consumer education is still limited.
“We believe that Japan is still in the developing stage with regards to creating upcycled food from food waste. In
addition, awareness of the SDGs and upcycled food is still low in Japan in general, and I think it will take some
time for the entire nation to become aware of the issue,” said Mitsuda.
Keishindo created an upcycled food product called Sustainable Shrimp Crackers in June 2021, made using
the waste from shrimp that has been caught via controlled, sustainable fishing methods., and Mitsuda
believes that there is growing awareness taking place regarding upcycling.
“In Japan, we are still at the stage where companies have just started being asked to contribute towards the SDGs
[such as upcycling],” he said.
“In response to the growing interest in ethical consumption among consumers, mainly large corporations have
begun to take initiatives around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but most small and mediumsized companies have not yet been able to take specific measures.
“The challenge for us is making products [from shrimp waste] that taste as good as conventional products, and
costing the same as regular products.”
Food Navigator Asia/January 10, 2022
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