In our last blog post – Could you turn Tayside’s food waste into a profit? – we saw just how much food is wasted in Tayside before it even reaches our high streets. And we saw how some entrepreneurs are finding opportunities to turn this surplus food into a profit. In this blog, we look at even more opportunities that can be found further along the food supply chain in Tayside, where more food is wasted.
Food waste is an issue that affects everyone in the food supply chain, including cafés, restaurants and hotels. Research conducted by Zero Waste Scotland reveals that an estimated 20% of business waste is food, and that Scottish businesses throw away more than 800,000 tonnes of food waste every year. Around 270,000 tonnes of this food waste are still edible – enough for 650 million meals.
There are huge opportunities for entrepreneurial businesses in Tayside who can take this food waste from cafes, restaurants and hotels – and other retailers – and release its value. Could you make use of this surplus food? Do you have an idea for a business that could divert this waste into a profit?
To inspire you, here are five businesses that have already done that and are creating value from food waste.
1. Too Good To Go
Too Good To Go is a social enterprise dedicated to tackling food waste. They take food that restaurants, cafes and bakeries are about to throw away and make it available at reduced prices.
Through the free Too Good To Go app, users can order to collect food roughly half an hour before a business’s end of service – whether that’s a restaurant, cafe, bakery, hotel or market stall for example.
At the core of the Too Good To Go app is a Pay-It-Forward scheme, a social scheme which allows users to donate £1 towards providing a meal to someone in need.
Since launching in 2016, Too Good To Go has diverted over 565,807 meals from waste bins, saving over 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
2. Jaw Brew
Jaw Brew is an independent micro-brewery based in Glasgow. In 2016, they partnered with bakery business Aulds to pioneer a beer made from leftover morning bread rolls.
Due to supplying their bread on a sale or return basis, Aulds has leftover rolls at the end of most days. After six months of research and trials, Jaw Brew came up with a recipe for a low alcohol beer using these surplus rolls as one of its main ingredients.
The “Hard Tack” beer is now available to buy in local pubs in Glasgow, as well as specialist beer shops.
3. Aurora Sustainability
Aurora Sustainability is a business based in Forres that grows oyster mushrooms using waste coffee grounds that are collected from restaurants and cafés. They sell the mushrooms through a Mushroom Meal Box product. Each box contains six meal portions, made from the oyster mushrooms. The mushrooms are also sold locally through a vegetable box scheme
4. The Real Junk Food Project
The Real Junk Food Project is a Brighton based business that intercepts food waste destined for landfill and uses it to create healthy meals.
They work with local markets, supermarkets, restaurants and cafes to collect surplus food that their chef then uses to create a menu of the day. Meals are served to the community on a Pay as You Feel basis. Any kind of contributions are accepted, including cash and voluntary work. The Real Junk Food Project operates a network of cafes across the UK.
They also operate several Sharehouses. Like an ‘excess food supermarket,’ people can get access to the intercepted fruits, vegetable and products on a Pay as You Feel basis.
Since it launched in 2013, The Real Junk Food Project has diverted more than one million kilograms of edible food from landfill, feeding more than 44,000 people in the process.
5. Indie Ecology
Indie Ecology collects food waste from over 80 restaurants across London and turns it into compost that is used to grow fruit and vegetables.
They also rent farming plots, greenhouse space and polytunnels to restaurants which do not have space for their own kitchen gardens. Restaurants decide which type of crops they want and how much they need – while Indie Ecology provides them with the farmers and logistics.
Indie Ecology employs a Japanese anaerobic method called bokashi, which uses fermented molasses and microorganisms to turn food waste into compost. Unlike traditional composting, this method can handle meat, fish and dairy.
If you have an innovative idea to create value from food waste, we’d love to hear from you.
Circular Tayside helps Tayside’s SMEs access free expert advice and funding – support that can help you develop your idea and showcase your business.
Get in touch with Circular Tayside today and speak with one of our team to find out more.