One of the biggest trends I've observed this past year is upcycling. Thanks to significant media attention over the past few years, food waste has become a top-of-mind issue for consumers, and as food and beverage companies focus on addressing unavoidable waste, a new category of food has emerged-upcycled food (as I discussed in my last column). Not only is this trend creating new and innovative products, but also generating new partnerships across the industry to move our linear "take-make-dispose" food system into a circular one. Abokichi is one such company diat has made upcycling a core pillar of their product innovation strategy. The company launched with a line of Japanese-inspired condiments and are now selling upcycled instant miso soups that use by-products from Saki manufacturing. Co-owners Fumi Tsukamoto, Jess Mantell and Bobby Khorasani recently graduated our R-Purpose Micro accelerator program, in partnership with Sobeys, and I took a moment to talk all things waste with them.
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