From an interview by Zachary CartwrightPhD, Chief Food Scientist meter hoodand Zach Farrar and Quinn Cayley Finlay, banished food
Anyone who has ever purchased fresh fruit and vegetables knows that appearance is more important than it should be when it comes to fresh produce. When two apples are placed side by side, the larger, less blemished, or brighter apple is much more attractive than the fruit next to it. Unfortunately, surface blemishes often render many wonderful fruits useless. Outcast Foods in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada is on a mission to change that.
According to its website, Outkast Foods “Beautiful food made from ugly produce.” These efforts to breathe new life into wasted food appeal to Outkast Foods employees, who often have an emotional connection to their work.
“We have a very strong mission and vision,” said Zach Farrar, director of product development and regulation at Outkast Foods. “Our wall says, ‘Save the farm, save the planet.’ That’s our true north. It guides all of our decisions. I think it’s a very compelling reason…it’s not just about companies trying to make money or please their investors. There is a very strong purpose in being there.”
When Dr. Darren Burke, co-founder of Outkast Foods, Inc. realized how much agricultural produce was wasted, he realized the potential for both business success and ways to help the planet.
“He did some research and started learning about food waste and started realizing there was a huge opportunity,” says Farrar. “It would be such a shame to lose all this good nutrition…We were successful in raising funds and started growing exponentially.”
food upcycling
Nutritionally, there is no difference between a picture-perfect fruit and a less-appealing fruit. Outcast Foods preserves the nutrition of food by preserving it and “upcycling” it into other products.
“[Upcycling] It means returning things that were destined to end up in landfills, compost, or animal feed to a higher purpose,” says Farrar. “We’re putting it back up the food chain. In fact, we’re trying to move up the food chain and really target the nutrition it contains and bring it to those who need it.”
Depending on the food, upcycling can mean dehydrating the produce before putting it into a protein powder or preparing it for use as a dietary supplement.
“It’s important to have a stable shape,” says Farrar. “We want to stabilize it and really give it a second life.”
Preserving food by measuring water activity
When Outcast Foods acquires perishable food, stabilizing it is a top priority.
“Some distributors and retail chains store unexpired produce in warehouses, but there isn’t enough time to get it to stores and put it in the consumer’s refrigerator,” Farrer said. . “So they’re looking for that house. They have to bring it in and process it pretty quickly. You can.”
Accurate and rapid measurement of water activity is essential for this process.
“It is very difficult to establish correlations between drying and curing chamber times and temperatures and moisture balance and losses during drying,” says Farrar. “But when it comes to water activity, the correlation is almost direct. I had a need. “I don’t really care about that,” Farrar says.
Some in the industry still don’t understand the value of water activity measurement, but at Outcast Foods, employees demonstrate its usefulness every day.
“I hadn’t done any research on water activity until I got here,” says Quinn Cayley Finley, associate scientist at Outkast Foods. “I measure the water activity of products as they leave manufacturing and use that as a benchmark for quality and stability.”
Ensuring product quality is essential to keeping Outcast Foods running smoothly. But just as important is efficiency. How quickly can Caylee Finley and her colleagues measure and adjust?
“With our water activity meter, we can get readings in less than five minutes,” says Keily-Finlay. “We are very busy here because we are doing a lot of development right now. So we can reevaluate how we are doing.”
Reduce costs and reduce losses
Outcast Foods’ mission resonates with farmers who know how appearance can affect a food’s marketability.
“We’ve talked to a lot of farmers and they say it’s kind of annoying when something that’s a little sunburned, a little out of shape, or a little flat on one side is suddenly graded. ‘ says Farrar. . “They are happy to have found a home away from home.
Outcast Foods’ mission may continue to resonate with employees, distributors and consumers as the company grows. In the future, it may not be possible to waste any produce whatsoever.
Dr. Zachary Cartwright, an emerging leader in the field of food moisture science, is Chief Food Scientist at METER Group. He holds a PhD in Food Science from Washington State University and a BS in Biochemistry from New Mexico State University. He is a prolific contributor and researcher in the METER Group food research and development lab, helping food companies solve complex product development and production problems using sorption isotherms and water activity measurements. increase. When not in the lab, he hosts the podcast “Water in Food,” interviewing big names in the food industry about how they are using water to deliver better products. increase.