Woeful waste

An astonishing 1.3billion tonnes of food is wasted globally each year – which is one third of all food produced for human consumption according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

In the UK, we throw away 6.4million tonnes of household food waste a year – almost three quarters is food we could have eaten.

Perishable products such as fresh fruit and vegetables are particularly prone, and huge effort are being made to prevent unnecessary wastage and find new ways to use potentially condemned goods.

Take the WRAP

According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme, by weight, most food waste comes from households (60%), followed by farms (15%), manufacturing (13%) hospitality and foodservice (10%) and retail (2%).

Targeted reduction

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be achieved by 2030. Known as the Courtauld Commitment, they pledged to halve per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.

Focus on farming

A study of farms by WRAP found that more than £1billion of food is thrown away or fed to animals before it leaves farms every year. This is 3.6million tonnes of wasted food, including 2mllion tonnes of edible surplus that does not make it to a retailer or other intended buyers.

Rescue remedy

In spite of these stark figures, all is not lost. Pioneering manufacturers are working hard to find innovative ways to prevent food waste. One such business is Chichester Food & Drink Co. who have made it their mission to “rescue, preserve and transform surplus fruit”.

Founded in 2021, they work with farmers, saving tons of perfectly good produce that would otherwise have been wasted, and transforming it into a fantastic range of sustainable, natural fruit products.

Since the company’s inception, they’ve rescued over 110,000kg of surplus fruit, using a unique air-drying process which allows more fresh fruit to be packed into each kilo, making it extremely competitive on price. 

Full-on flavour

The award-winning range features RESQ fruit powders in six flavours (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, lemon, orange and lime) and Nice Slice premium air-dried citrus slices in orange, lemon and lime.

The RESQ fruit powders are available from your TWG wholesaler in small (90g) and bulk (500g) formats, and are suitable for baking, desserts, smoothies and ice cream, as well as savoury recipes.

There’s no added sugar – just 100% air-dried fruit – and the flavour profiles are extremely intense.

Get a slice of the action

With over 50% of freshly sliced fruit used for garnishes in the hospitality sector being wasted, Chichester Food & Drink Company’s Nice Slice range provides a fantastic alternative. The fresh citrus fruits are carefully sliced and slowly air dried over 24 hours in small batches to maximise retention of aromatic oils and lock in the citrus flavour.

Available in 250g bags, which provide between 90 and 135 servings, they can be used as a garnish in both hot and cold drinks, or added to recipes for a citrus boost.