Innovations Keeping Food out of Landfills

About Topic:

‍As we look for innovative ways to reduce food waste, natural edible coatings have emerged as a transformative solution to extend the shelf life of produce and prevent food from entering landfills. These coatings, enriched with composite materials and natural additives, enhance food quality and safety and hold immense potential to revolutionize food storage.

Problem:

‍The alarming statistic that one-third of the world's food supply, equating to 1.3 billion tons annually, goes to waste underscores the urgent need for innovative solutions to combat food waste. Food waste is a significant societal and environmental issue for a host a reasons — read more about the implications of food waste in this snippet.

Solution:

‍Enter companies like Apeel Sciences, Mori, Hazel Technologies, It’s Fresh, SoFresh, and SuSea, each pioneering unique technical innovations that act as protective shields against spoilage. For example, Apeel Sciences utilizes plant-based protection to slow water loss and oxidation, significantly extending the freshness of produce. Similarly, Mori harnesses the power of silk protein-based technology to slow down the spoiling process across the supply chain. These innovations allow for longer travel time, the ability for groceries to sell all their inventory, and customers have more time actually to consume their purchases.

Examples:

• Apeel: Known for doubling the shelf life of fruits like avocados and oranges, Apeel Sciences showcases the tangible impact of bio coatings in reducing food wastage.
• Mori: Utilizing silk protein-based technology, Mori ensures produce, meats, and seafoods remain fresh throughout the supply chain.
• AgroFresh: They have a full portfolio of foodwaste reduction solutions being used across 50 countries and save over 16 Million Metric Tons of foodwaste a year preventing apples and pears from going to the landfill. They are the largest provider of decay prevention packaging solutions for grapes ensuring these products arrive in perfect condition through sometimes up to 30-45 days on sea.
• Hazel Technologies: Hazel Technologies offers a range of products for a variety of crops, all with one shared goal - to keep produce fresh from farm to table. Their suite of innovations include delayed aging technologies, packaging to prevent spoilage, anti-fungal technologies, anti-sprouting innovations, and much more.
• It’s Fresh: Numerous factors impact the quality and shelf life of fresh produce, such as agronomy practices, harvesting methods, post-harvest conditions like temperature, humidity, microbial controls, and transportation duration. Among these, managing the plant hormone ethylene stands out as paramount. Without effective ethylene control, all efforts on the aforementioned factors are futile; however, with proper management, produce is shielded, reducing stress and prolonging its freshness. It’s Fresh technology differs from other solutions by not disrupting natural processes or applying coatings on the produce. Instead, it regulates and absorbs ethylene, allowing the produce to mature naturally, albeit at a slower pace.
• SoFresh: SoFresh, Inc. has developed food saving packaging materials that eliminate moldy food waste. Their products allows food producers to eliminate preservatives, prevent food waste, reduce cost to produce and deliver higher quality food to consumers.
• SuSea: SuSea is developing an innovative fish processing method based on natural ingredients that extends shelf life.

One-Minute Call to Action:

‍Let's unite to embrace sustainable innovations like coatings to combat food waste and preserve resources. By supporting companies at the forefront of eco-friendly food preservation, we can ensure less food goes to landfills.