Caldic collaboration to pinpoint highly competitive upcycled food ingredients

15 Feb 2023 --- Caldic and Danish company Reduced have joined forces to develop ingredients that reduce food waste while paving the way for further development of process technology and innovation in the upcycling of side streams from the food industry.

“Our goal is to reduce food waste by developing and producing ingredients which can compete on equal terms with similar commercial ingredients, but at the same time offer the customer a unique taste profile,” says Emil Munck de Voss, co-founder of Reduced.

“Caldic has many years of experience in selling ingredients all over the world. We look forward to learning from their international market knowledge, and at the same time, feedback from their distribution network provides an opportunity for further development in Reduced,” he continues.

According to Reduced, the global market for products based on food waste was valued at US$52.91 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to US$83.26 billion in 2023 (CAGR 4.6% per year).

Boosting umami taste
The alliance is launched with a series of organic flavor enhancers based on side streams from the food industry.

The flavor enhancers are distinguished by boosting the umami taste without containing additives. The company flags that they have been used in meat products, meat hybrids and meat alternatives thus far, to reduce raw material costs, lower salt content and enhance flavor.

The collaboration between Reduced and Caldic will start next month and includes trade for the food industry in the Nordic countries and  Baltic states.

Sugar reduction through upcycling
Also tapping into the potential of upcycling, Purdys Chocolatier is tapping Crush Dynamics, a Canadian-based agriculture technology company, knowledge on harnessing agriculture side streams. 

Crush Dynamics has announced today that it is working on a grape derivative that allows for 30-50% sugar reduction in chocolate applications.

The global market for products based on food waste was valued at US$52.91 billion in 2022. (Image Credits: Reduced).“We see innovations like Crush Dynamics as a key part of the toolbox with an ability to revolutionize the chocolate industry, reducing sugar while adding nutrition through antioxidant and polyphenol-rich ingredients,” says Rachel McKinley, Purdys master chocolatier. 

Crush Dynamics and Purdys Chocolatier will showcase chocolate samples demonstrating sugar reduction and flavor enhancement in the Future Food-Tech Summit in San Francisco, March 16-17. 

Not letting anything go to waste
Upcycling is trending among companies that aim to boost sustainability while reducing costs by giving new life to ingredients that previously went to waste. 

Demand has never been greater for upcycled ingredients as signaled by Innova Market Insights’ Top Ten Trend for 2023 “Redefining Value” which details how cost and value for money have become more important to more than half of F&B consumers worldwide. Today’s shoppers are increasingly exploring money-saving strategies, such as choosing lower-cost items and cooking from scratch. 

At the same time, consumers tell Innova they have reduced food waste and upcycled or recycled more as part of their belt-tightening.

Other recent highlights in the upcycling space include:

Swiss start-up Upgrain’s exclusive distribution partnership in Germany and Austria with Ceresal GmbH, a company specializing in distributing plant-based ingredients and raw materials. The agreement relates to new products made from upcycled barley-based brewer’s grains.

Kerry announced last month that its sponsoring The Kerry Upcycled Food Foundation Fellowship in a new partnership with the Upcycled Food Foundation, the non-profit subsidiary of the Upcycled Food Association. The research fellowship is the second initiated by the UFF and will work toward advancing the understanding of the market, consumer perception and technical opportunities of upcycled food. 

Kerry also revealed in a study that upcycled cheese powders are 45% lower in greenhouse gas emissions than standard ones.

Meanwhile, NoPalm Ingredients in Wageningen, the Netherlands, is producing an upcycling alternative to palm oil.

Edited by Marc Cervera