Veggie company reduces food waste with powdering tech

A food vegetable producer that keeps excess vegetables from landfill by turning them into nutritious powders has received funding from the Victorian Government.

The business, Fresh Select, was the recipient of a $500,000 grant from the government to install a drying unit at its Werribee South site that will take vegetables and vegetable offcuts unsuitable for sale and process them into powders that can be used as an ingredient in foods to increase their nutrition.

The powders can be added to smoothies, sauces, soups, muffins, cakes, breads and various other goods, thus boosting their vegetable content. The facility, which has the capacity to convert around 8000 tonnes of veggies each year into new food products, will be helping farmers create new revenue streams from material that would otherwise be disposed of while also reducing food waste.

The Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Action, Lily D’Ambrosio, visited Fresh Select, which is one of the country’s largest suppliers of lettuce and vegetables like broccoli and cabbage.

“2.4 million tonnes of food products currently end up as waste in Victoria every year. Innovations like this drive us towards our goal of halving our food waste by 2030,” D’Ambrosio said.

“This home-grown, Victorian innovation will help develop zero waste farming in our state, creating new jobs and revenue streams as we divert 80% of waste from landfill and halve emissions by 2030.”

Fresh Select received the funding through Sustainability Victoria as part of the Circular Economy Business Support Fund, which is investing a total of $4.34 million to create circular economies as a means of reducing waste.

The new facility is claimed to be the first of its kind in Victoria, with hopes the technology can be scaled up and expanded to other vegetable producers across Australia.

Image caption L to R: Matt Genever, Interim CEO Sustainability Victoria; Michael Weldon, Chef; Minister for Environment and Climate Action Lily D’Ambrosio; John Said, CEO and Owner Fresh Select. Back: Matthew Hilakari, Labor Candidate for Point Cook.