The Dutch Startups Rescuing Food from the Bin

The Startups

A little over 50 results came up in my search for startups that are headquartered in the Netherlands and:

• whose main purpose is to enable different actors in the food supply chain to prevent food waste (e.g. through a technology product); or
• who rely on food waste as primary input for their own operations

Of the nine startups that are working on interventions to prevent food waste from occurring in the first place, most rely on some form of technology or analytics to support decision-making or to extend the shelf life of products.

For each of the startups active in the recovery and recycling space, I tried to answer the following questions: why does the food they are rescuing need to be rescued in the first place, what kind of food are they rescuing, and what happens to the food they do rescue?

Without further ado, let's dive into the results!

Why does this food need rescuing in the first place?

According to the information publicly available on the different startups' websites, the food they are sourcing for their own operations comes from three main streams:

'Residual' waste (21/52)

By-products of manufacturing processes that traditionally end up in the compost or the landfill, such as brewers' spent grains, orange peels in orange juice production, or tomato ends that may be discarded at, say, a fast food business.

Surplus food (14/52)

Surplus food at farm, producer, or retail level that cannot be sold because it's nearing its expiry date or because of inaccurate demand forecasting

Imperfect produce (12/52)

Produce that does not adhere to grocery retailers' cosmetic specifications and is left to the farmers' to find another customer to sell to

This is largely in line with the literature on the causes of food waste in industrialised countries, which include: routine overproduction practices to plan for unpredictable weather, high cosmetic standards for fruits and vegetables, and a mindset that favors disposing over using or reusing. Other key factors on the consumers' side not addressed by the startups I have looked at include: our own laissez-faire attitude towards food waste, and the illusion of abundance we have come to expect at retailers and restaurants. (FAO, 2011)

What types of food are Dutch startups rescuing?

Produce

All sorts of vegetables and fruit, including a wide variety of berries, tropical fruit, and citrus and citrus by-products.

Grains

This includes bread as well as brewers' spent grains.

Other

A bit of a wild card, here this includes coffee by-products, edible candy paper, and chips or snacks.

Various

Startups that accept more than one type of food products as input for their operations, including meat and dairy.

By far the largest portion of food rescued consists of produce and grains (including bread). No startups specifically worked with any type of dairy or meat, except in the context of repurposing them into restaurant meals or for redistribution to other interested stakeholders in the chain.

How does this compare to local food waste figures?

In the absence of breakdown figures across levels, let's assume the supply of food waste in the country mirrors the distribution at the supermarket and household levels.

With this assumption in mind, it looks like startups are responding somewhat proportionally to the existing supply of food waste, with produce the most consistently wasted type of food at retail and household level, and also the most rescued type of food.

But quantities alone should not drive the prioritisation of which food to rescue first. Considering the environmental impact of meat and dairy, for example, preventing and recovering these food groups – regardless of where they land on the scale of most to least wasted – might also be a more effective use of resources; and innovations to prevent or recover animal products, in line with health and safety standards, could help balance this picture.

What are Dutch startups doing with the food they rescue?

1. New food products

27 startups are turning food waste into new food products and, together, are producing 15 different types of food products fit for human consumption:

Sauces, chutneys, and relish (including ketchup)

Soups

Mushrooms and other mushroom products

Jams and spreads

Granola and cereals

Baked goods

Food powders

Undefined

Beer & ciders

Tosti's

Sparkling drinks

Tea

Pasta

Restaurant meals

Snacks

Soups, sauces, and jams top the list– which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Jamming and preserving has long been around to prevent food waste in times of surplus, and an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup is still the trusted go-to for many of us to use up any leftover veggies in our fridge that are nearing their expiry dates (that, and a good frittata!). They are simple and forgiving recipes that elevate unwanted veggies into the realm of delicious meals and considerably extend their shelf lives.

2. Non-food products

Eight startups are repurposing food waste – mostly food by-products – into animal feed and various other non-food products:

Animal feed

Bio-compounds and chemicals

Bio-gas

Perfume

Leather

Essential oils

Construction materials

Bio-degradable confetti

While materials like leather or soap are undoubtedly valuable, following the principles that all food produced should first be recovered for human consumption, then animal consumption, then further processed for other uses (see Feedback Global's food waste hierarchy, or the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's, for example), I've marked these companies as operating in 'recycling', but I would be curious to hear other thoughts on this.

3. Building the redistribution infrastructure/network

The other five startups that do rescue food but do not process it into anything themselves are building out redistribution infrastructure to either connect farmers and consumer-facing food businesses, or consumer-facing food businesses and consumers:

What can the food industry learn from these startups?

Startups tend to operate 'outside' the incumbent supply chain. In this case, they intervene where food escapes the chain to reintroduce it back into the loop, acting as new links in the chain; or before food escapes the chain, reinforcing existing links along the way.

Their existence signals clear gaps in the market that traditional businesses can take inspiration from, and their varied levels of success signals the feasibility of the different ideas they propose, clearing the way for the industry to follow along.

So what exactly can the industry learn from these startups, and how could that shape the food supply chain in the future?

1. Incorporate or partner with existing solutions and technologies to prevent food waste

"Prevention is better than cure" – this holds as true for our health as it does for our waste. Whether at farm, retail, business, or consumer level, prevention mechanisms remain the most effective way to reduce our environmental impact. By introducing new technologies to extend the shelf life of products such as Contronics or Startchy, measuring and analysing the sources of food waste to identify key intervention points with analytics products such as Zero Foodwaste or Milgro, or re-evaluating cosmetic standards, the amount of food that ‘escapes’ the loop could be significantly reduced.

2. Reconsider who else can be your supplier, and who else you can be a supplier to.

A circular economy introduces fluidity to the roles of consumers and suppliers. Whereas supply chains are traditionally depicted as linear, in a closed loop system, everyone is a supplier, and consumption is replaced by the notion of 'use'.

By looking left, right, and within for new suppliers and customers, the food industry could unlock new, exciting opportunities.

For example, restaurants and other food businesses with residual waste on their hands – from orange peels to tomato ends – could become the unconventional suppliers to existing soup and sauce manufacturers. Breweries and bakeries could become suppliers to one another, as De Bisschopsmolen and Gulpener have demonstrated in the Netherlands, or Warburtons and Toast Ale in the UK.

Supermarkets could source products from the startups on this list– maybe even support them by connecting them to their own suppliers and playing a leading role in setting up the infrastructure needed to scale these secondary marketplaces. They could supply these startups with their own soon-to-expire products, or turn their own 'imperfect' or about-to-expire products into ready meals and sandwiches.

The possibilities are endless.

3. Move from competition to collaboration to support economies of scale

Individual smallholder farms and small businesses might not be responsible for a significant amount of food waste on their own. Together, however, they can provide the right scale to invest in the distribution infrastructure needed to connect their supply with the demand of food manufacturers or other customers.

Cooperatives could be particularly well suited for this – see the example of Food Fellows, which produces tomato sauces and soups out of the overripe tomatoes from the Harvest House, a cooperative of local tomato farmers.

Looking at the popularity of repurposing coffee grounds into mushrooms, large coffee consumers (office buildings, for example) could also consider joining forces to scale up mushroom production and reduce their own waste in the process.

External parties can help support this effort, as we've seen before, by providing the logistics necessary to enable this.

Again, the possibilities are endless.

Does success have to mean obsolescence?

Secondary marketplaces offer a clever solution to current food surpluses– in the words of Feedback Global: "the redistribution of surplus food is an essential fallback mechanism for the current global food system". Products like Kromkommer and De Verspillingsfabriek have helped and continue to raise awareness of the underpinning issues that have enabled their business model to exist so far; but does their success ultimately have to be their downfall?

Most of these business models depend on a certain degree of food waste to occur, but not all of it is entirely preventable. Think of the residual waste and by-products of food manufacturing processes, which will likely continue to supply a constant stream of inputs in the future.

With the right scale, these companies could also displace the need to grow and produce new food for the production of soups, sauces, and jams, for example.

But ultimately, if food waste is to be prevented first and foremost, we should continue to consider food recovery a fallback mechanism, focus on tackling the root causes of the problem, and find creative ways for these types of companies to pivot when their business model and social mission no longer align – just like Kromkommer did when they recently retired their soup-production activities to solely focus on awareness-raising and education around "crooked" vegetables!