From waste to taste: Why food upcycling is the next big thing

BY JASMIN FOX-SKELLY

Rescuing food destined for trash and turning it into other tasty produce can not only slash greenhouse gas emissions, but some of these upcycled foods may actually be healthier, reports Jasmin Fox-Skelly.

In farms in tropical countries around the world, the cacao fruit is picked, washed and opened to remove the precious seeds inside. These seeds – or beans – are destined to be used in the manufacture of chocolate, a $133bn industry. Yet, the beans represent only about 30% of the fruit. The remaining 70% – its pulp and peel – is often simply thrown away.

However, that is starting to change. Barry Callebaut – a chocolate manufacturer based in Zurich, Switzerland – is one of many firms looking to capitalise on the cacao fruit’s zesty signature flavour. It has released a range of ingredients using the pulp, juice, and concentrate of the cacao fruit, which can be used in place of sugar in drinks, ice cream, dairy products, confectionery and snacks. Products containing Cabosse Naturals cacao fruit ingredients include BevCacao, a drink made with upcycled cacao fruit pulp, which is sold online at Walmart and at Jeff de Bruges, a chocolate franchise with hundreds of shops in France and other European countries.

Cabosse Naturals is part of a growing movement to salvage, repurpose, and reuse food that would otherwise be thrown away – known as ‘food upcycling’. Some brands, such as Cabosse Naturals, aim to collect unwanted and unused food items, while others are targeting byproducts from the food industry. The trend is gaining traction; the upcycled food product market was worth $53.7bn in 2021 and is projected to hit $97bn by 2031[1].

It’s not hard to see why the concept is proving popular. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO), over 30% of all food globally – around 1bn t/year – is wasted. This figure is higher in the US, where almost 40% of all food is discarded, equivalent to around 145bn meals.

Most wasted food ends up in landfills where it decomposes, releasing methane – a potent greenhouse gas. It’s thought that rotting food accounts for 8% of human-caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is more than three times that produced by the aviation industry[2]. According to the UN FAO, more greenhouse gases were produced from decomposing food waste globally in 2011 than were emitted by the entire country of India[3].

If food waste was reduced by 50% by 2050, the climate action NGO Project Drawdown estimates that 88.5Gt of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere could be avoided[4].

‘The figure is staggering,’ says Jonathan Kershaw, Associate Professor of food science at Brigham Young University in the US. ‘It isn’t just about cutting the emissions from food degrading in landfill, but also about making the most of all the resources that went into producing it – the transportation, the fuel, and the labour hours.’

The problem is multifactorial. Food waste accumulates throughout the entire food supply chain, from farms and warehouses to grocery stores and households. For example, according to a study by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), 30% of fruit and vegetable loss happens on the farm, where high labour costs mean unprofitable fruit and veg remains unpicked and unharvested[5]. Most of the remaining two-thirds of food waste occurs after produce has reached the supermarket shelves. Consumers will reject items that don’t look perfect, with one estimate suggesting grocery stores lose $15bn/year in unsold fruits and vegetables alone[6]. Even if food is sold, it frequently goes uneaten.

‘There are a lot of different sustainable practices in the food industry, but tackling food waste is the biggest, lowest hanging fruit,’ says Kershaw.

The Upcycled Food Association, or UFA, which launched in 2019 with just nine companies on board, now counts more than 200 firms among its members. Any company that uses upcycled ingredients in its products can apply for certification via UFA’s Upcycled Certified program. Among those signed up are Californian start-up Upcycled Foods, whose flagship ingredient, ReGrained SuperGrain+ flour, is made from spent grain left over after beer production. According to the company, the ingredient contains 3.5 times the dietary fibre, and twice the plant protein of whole grain and white flours on a weight for weight basis. It can be used as an alternative to flour in baked goods and snacks.

‘Spent brewer’s grain has a nutty, malty quality that can lend a subtle sweetness and a heartier mouthfeel to breads, crackers, and cookies,’ says Lara Ramdin, a board member of the Upcycled Food Foundation and former Chief Innovation & Science Officer of Upcycled Foods. The company recently collaborated with Boston-based baked goods provider Stone & Skillet to launch the Super Grains English Muffin.

Other firms include international food company Del Monte, whose Blue Lake Petite Cut, Blue Lake Farmhouse Cut, and Del Monte Classics Cut canned beans are made with 100% upcycled and sustainably grown green beans from Wisconsin and Illinois. Del Monte claims to have re-directed ca 272t of surplus green beans in 2021.

California-based Wheyward Spirit, meanwhile, is using left-over whey from the cheese-making process and turning it into premium spirits. An estimated 57m t/year of whey are produced after the solid curds are separated. Wheyward Spirit sources its whey from sustainable dairies in California and uses it to replace traditional grain to create a whisky-like spirit.

Yet another food product ripe for upcycling is seed oils[7]. During the wine making process, grapes are crushed to extract the juice that is then fermented while the grape seeds are discarded.

‘There’s a lovely oil that can be produced from the actual seed of grapes, and it has a very good fatty acid composition,’ says Simona Grasso, an Assistant Professor in food science and nutrition at University College Dublin, Ireland, who recently authored a paper on the topic. ‘It’s full of healthy unsaturated fats, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial things.’

Yet despite the promise of the upcycling movement, there are a number of barriers preventing widespread scale-up. One is customer acceptance.

‘How we talk about waste can have a huge influence on consumers’ perceptions,’ says Kershaw. ‘There is a risk that describing food as upcycled waste can trigger a feeling of disgust, or at least an idea of lower quality. People may think that because a food has been recycled it should be a lower price, though it actually costs more to produce.’

For example, in a yet-to-be-published study, Kershaw and his team at Brigham Young University conducted an online survey where they presented people with pictures of upcycled bread and cookies and then used three different messages to describe the products. The first message described the products simply as ‘upcycled foods’; the second as containing ingredients ‘rescued from the food production waste stream’; and the third as ‘making the most of all parts of the food during food production.’

‘We found that frugal framing, where we emphasised using all parts of a food, led to greater acceptance and improved people’s perception of upcycled products,’ says Kershaw. ‘People perceived the goods to be of higher quality and expressed more of a willingness to buy them.’

Messaging may be key to moving upcycled foods from a rapidly growing, but still niche market, to a more mainstream offering. One way of doing that is by highlighting the health benefits of upcycled foods.

‘There’s a lot of really valuable nutrients in these side streams that are being wasted,’ says Kershaw. ‘Upcycled foods are often high in fibre. They can be high in antioxidants, phytochemicals and other bioactives. Some are also quite high in protein. They are often healthier products.’

However, there may be some drawbacks. For example, a 2025 review by Grasso suggests including upcycled ingredients in foods can sometimes impair their sensory qualities[8]. The review analysed 34 studies that included sensory evaluation of foods containing at least 10% of upcycled ingredients. It found that incorporating upcycled ingredients frequently led to a bitter astringent taste.

‘A lot of these byproducts are rich in fibre and protein, and when you try to add a lot of fibre or protein to a food, whatever food it is, usually you end up having problems,’ says Grasso. ‘An example is wholemeal bread. There is only a certain amount of fibre that you can add before it affects the taste and texture too much.’

However, Ramdin believes that edible byproducts or food waste can bring unique flavours and textures that might enhance products and would otherwise never reach consumers. For example, bruised or irregular fruits and vegetables that are not ‘market-fresh’ can still be pressed into juices or turned into sauces, chutneys and jams.

‘Sometimes these products develop deeper, more concentrated flavours if certain fruits or vegetables have gone slightly beyond their peak appearance,’ says Ramdin.

Foods like beet greens, radish tops, and watermelon rind are sometimes upcycled through fermentation or pickling. This can generate tangy, acidic or ‘funky’ notes.

Another challenge is scaling up the food upcycling process and establishing the requisite supply chains. A wine manufacturer might be an expert in making wine, for example, but know nothing about making grape seed oil. Another local company would be needed to turn that waste into a marketable product.

‘Food byproducts and “waste” streams can be widely dispersed,’ says Ramdin. ‘Gathering the volume needed for mass production requires consistent partnerships with farms, factories, or breweries. Processing, transporting and storing these materials at scale requires investment.’

‘Right now, the whole system is set up to be linear, so the company buys, uses, and then throws away whatever is left,’ Grasso agrees. ‘The linear economy is a disaster from an environmental perspective. What we should encourage is a circular approach where everything is somehow recuperated and reincorporated back into the food industry.’

So will the upcycling movement ever make a meaningful difference to tackling food waste? Grasso believes it could, as long as the approach taken is well designed and thought through. It’s also vital that manufacturers are upfront and honest about the environmental impact of their upcycled goods.

‘A lot of so called upcycled food products on the market only use minimal amounts of upcycled ingredients,’ says Grasso. ‘So, I think there is an issue in saying is this meaningful from an environmental perspective, or are we tricking consumers? Are we greenwashing people into believing they’re making a more sustainable choice, when actually they’re not.’

Stopping the rot

Consumers can reject fruit and veg for all sorts of reasons. But innovations to prolong food life or reduce waste are now slowly reaching the marketplace. Food-coating company Akorn Technology, for example, has devised an edible waxy coating to make fruit appear more appealing, giving it a brighter colour. Meanwhile, US biotech Ryp Labs has devised a sticker that slowly releases natural antimicrobial compounds such as lavender oil to prevent mould and spoilage.

More generally, many fruits release ethylene (ethene) – a naturally occurring hormone – as they mature. This gas, which has a characteristic sweet odour, binds to a protein in fruit cells and tells the fruit to begin the ripening process. However, if ethylene is released too early, the fruit, such as apples, can turn to mush before they even reach the supermarket shelves. The solution is a molecule called 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), which binds to and blocks ethylene receptors in the fruit, delaying the ripening process.

Agtech company AgroFresh deploys 1-MCP in its SmartFresh technology for treating fruit that is being stored or transported over long distances.

Meanwhile, there is even a device for removing ethylene in shipping containers. Marketed by logistics firm Purfresh, the device converts oxygen into ozone, which then reacts with ethylene, releasing carbon dioxide and water in the process.