OTTAWA, ON, - From farm to plate, through production, processing, distribution, retail, food service and at home, over half of Canada's annual food supply is reportedly wasted or lost. To build a more sustainable future, it is critical to tackle food waste. Today, the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced the two grand prize winners of the Business Models Streams for the Food Waste Reduction Challenge, LOOP Mission and Still Good.
The Challenge, launched in November 2020, supports high-impact solutions to food waste in Canada. The Business Models Streams focus on business model solutions that can prevent or divert food waste at any point in the food chain, from farm to plate.
LOOP Mission is a Montreal-based circular economy company that creates products from food that would otherwise go to waste, like cold-pressed juice. The company leveraged its expertise to create LOOP Synergies—a line of ingredients made from rejected food, that would otherwise be wasted, that food processors can easily integrate into diverse food products. With support from the Challenge, LOOP Mission will scale its LOOP Synergies line, enabling more food processors to join the movement to reduce food waste in Canada.
Based in Montreal, Still Good develops business solutions for companies to transform nutrient-rich by-products that would otherwise go to waste to new food products, through a holistic approach called eco-valuation. For example, Still Good developed technology to turn spent brewers' grain from local microbreweries into flour which is high in protein, fibre and essential minerals. With support from the Challenge, Still Good will scale its business model to create eco-valuation or upcycling hubs across Canada. This will allow food processors to build on and replicate this solution to reduce food waste.
LOOP Mission and Still Good will each receive a grand prize of up to $1.5 million to grow and scale their leading-edge food waste solutions.
By encouraging more solutions to food waste, we can increase food availability, save Canadians and businesses money, and strengthen our food systems, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Government will continue to support innovation in this area, to ensure that more of the high-quality products produced by our farmers and food processors reach Canadians.
Source : Newswire.ca