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From an interview with Zack Farrar and Quinn Keily-Finlay, Outcast Foods
Anyone who has purchased fresh fruits and vegetables knows that when it comes to fresh produce, looks probably matter more than they should. When two apples are side by side, the one that is bigger, has fewer bruises, or even has a more vibrant color can be far more appealing than the fruit next to it.
Unfortunately, cosmetic blemishes often lead to a lot of excellent fruit going to waste. Outcast Foods, located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, is on a mission to change that.
According to its website, Outcast Foods makes âbeautiful food out of ugly produce.â These efforts to give new life to discarded food appeal to Outcast Foodsâ employees, who often develop emotional ties to their work.
âWe have a very strong mission and vision,â says Zack Farrar, director of product development and regulatory affairs at Outcast Foods. âOn our wall, it says âSave the produce, save the planet.â Thatâs our true north. It helps guide all of our decisions. I think itâs a very compelling reason to come to work every day. ⌠Itâs not just a company trying to make money or please investors. Weâre trying to do those things as well, but we have a very strong purpose in what we do.â
When Dr. Darren Burke, co-founder of Outcast Foods, became aware of the amount of produce that was going to waste, he saw the potential for both a successful business and a way to help the planet.
âHe did some exploration and started learning about food waste and realizing what a large opportunity there was,â Farrar says. âseeing what a pity it was that all this good nutrition was being lost. ⌠We had a really successful round of funding and we started growing leaps and bounds."
Nutritionally, there is no difference between a picture-perfect piece of fruit and its less appealing neighbor. Outcast Foods conserves that nutrition by preserving the food and âupcyclingâ it into other products.
â[Upcycling] means taking something that was going to end up either in a landfill, as compost, or as animal feed, and bringing it back to a higher purpose,â Farrer says. âItâs bringing that back into the food chainâin fact, we try to elevate it and really target the nutrition that is in there and give it to people who need it.â
Depending on the food, upcycling might mean dehydrating the produce before putting it in a protein powder or preparing it for use in a dietary supplement.
âItâs about putting it in a stable form,â Farrar says. âWe want to stabilize it and really give it a second life."
When Outcast Foods acquires perishable produce, stabilizing it is their first priority.
âSome distributors and retail chains have produce sitting in their warehouses that is not yet expired, but that doesnât have enough time to get to stores and into consumersâ fridges,â Farrer says. âSo theyâre looking for a home for it. We have to bring it in and process it pretty quickly. Once we get it in, dehydrate it, stabilize it, and get the water activity low, we have a pretty long shelf life on it.â
Accurately and quickly measuring water activity is essential to this process.
âItâs really hard to build a correlation between time and temperature in a drying or a curing room to moisture balance or loss on drying,â Farrar says. âBut with water activity, the correlation is pretty much direct. We have had to do a lot of education with people who say, âYou gave me the water activity number, but what was the LOD?â Iâm like, âI actually donât even really care about that,ââ Farrer says.
Some people in the industry donât yet appreciate the value of water activity measurements, but at Outcast Foods, employees are demonstrating its usefulness using AQUALAB instruments.
âI didnât work with anything regarding water activity until I got here,â says Quinn Keily-Finlay, an associate research scientist at Outcast Foods. âI measure our productsâ water activity as they come out of production and use that as a benchmark for quality and stability.â
Ensuring product quality is essential to keeping Outcast Foods running smoothly. But almost as important is efficiencyâhow quickly can Keily-Finlay and her colleagues take measurements and make adjustments?
âWith the AQUALAB 4TE, I can get readings in under five minutes,â Keily-Finlay says. âWe are so busy here because we are currently undergoing a lot of developments. So it is great in terms of speed and being able to flexibly take readings when we need to and then quickly have those results so we can then reassess how we are doing what weâre doing."
Outcast Foodsâ mission resonates with farmers, who know how much appearances can influence a foodâs marketability.
âWeâve talked to a lot of farmers who say it kind of bugs them that something with a little bit of sunburn, or that is a little misshapen, or has one side thatâs a little flat, is suddenly graded out,â Farrer says. âTheyâre happy to find a second home for it. So weâve had a lot of good people who reach out directly. Overall, our mission has been very well received.â
Outcast Foodsâ mission is likely to continue resonating with employees, distributors and consumers as the company grows. In the future, perhaps no produce will go to wasteâno matter what it looks like.
Ohio fruit snack company Peaceful Fruits is on a mission to provide healthy snacks, economic opportunity, and meaningful employment.
With the wellness industry growing at astounding rates year after year, it can seem nearly impossible to stand out. Thorne HealthTech, however, is officially up to the task. With a commitment to "science-driven wellness" and product quality and purity, Thorne is setting itself apart from competitors and helping consumers live happier and healthier lives.