Upcycled cascara drink: Nestlé tackles upstream food waste through product and technology innovation

28 Jan 2021 --- Nestlé is accelerating the development of products and technologies that use agricultural raw materials that would otherwise go to waste. One example is Nescafé Nativ Cascara, a carbonated soft drink based on organic cascara – the “coffee berry” fruit that surrounds the bean – which has just been launched in Australia.

By using this antioxidant-rich coffee berry to brew a trend-based beverage, Nestlé is creating a new purpose for an agricultural side stream that typically gets discarded.

The use of raw materials and side streams in products or processes creates new revenue streams for farmers and start-ups focused on developing food ingredients or packaging materials.

Nescafé Nativ Cascara is free from preservatives, artificial colors and flavors and has the same caffeine content as one cup of coffee.

A better-for-you beverage
Nestlé has created a novel beverage with a floral and fruity flavor by extracting the sun-dried cascara husk with water and infusing the brew with botanicals.

Nescafé Nativ Cascara is free from preservatives, artificial colors and flavors and has the same caffeine content as one cup of coffee.

Coffee polyphenols are natural plant-based antioxidants found in green coffee beans. A byproduct of the coffee decaffeination process, they now feature in Buxton Plant+Water, plant-infused functional spring water launched recently in the UK. 

Perrier Energize, launched last December in the US, also includes organic caffeine otherwise lost via decaffeination.

The Swiss giant is also working to lower its environmental impact by reducing water usage and greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain, in line with its ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Coffee as energy
Coffee products are valorized in Nestlé products, and for several years, coffee grounds from soluble coffee production have served as an energy source in the company’s coffee factories. 

They are used in more than 22 worldwide to generate steam. 

In Switzerland, grounds are even fermented to produce biogas, which provides electricity for the Swiss grid, while the fermentation residuals are used as eco-friendly fertilizer by farmers.

Nestlé scientists are also exploring the potential of coffee production side streams as ingredients for bio-based packaging materials.

Turning cocoa pulp into chocolate
Nestlé experts have developed a 70 percent dark chocolate made using a single ingredient – cocoa. This is the result of a natural process whereby the cocoa pulp – another traditionally unused byproduct, is dried and used with the beans to create chocolate with no refined sugar. 

The product was launched in Japan under the KitKat Chocolatory brand.

While creating an additional purpose for the agricultural raw material used in its products is essential, Nestlé is also looking into using less desirable “ugly” fruits and vegetables. 

A Maggi soup range test-launched last autumn, Krumm Glücklich (Crooked but Happy), uses vegetables that would have otherwise remained unsold due to their appearance and gone to waste.

“Developing new products and technologies using agricultural side streams is one way to reduce environmental impact, and it creates new opportunities for farmers,” says Thomas Hauser, head of Nestlé’s product and technology development. 

“We are committed to addressing food loss – to create new value for raw materials and develop innovations that are good for you and the planet.”

Moreover, Nestlé is developing more climate-friendly or carbon-neutral products, working on technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing its use of 100 percent renewable electricity. 

Sustainable packaging and more sustainable crops developed through its plant science research are other important focus areas.

Edited by Gaynor Selby