Reviving Food Resources: Exploring New Horizons in Upcycled Food Production

Purpose and goal:

Upcycled foods use ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption; thus, their production increases resource efficiency, reduces food waste, and improves environmental impact and profitability. The aim of Step 1 is to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment in collaboration with food supply chain stakeholders to investigate the barriers and enablers of upcycled food production. This finding can be used to develop solutions and facilitate upcycled food production in Step 2.

Expected results and effects:

The comprehensive needs assessment provides a deep understanding of the stakeholders’ perspectives and identifies the interventions that facilitate upcycled food production by investigating practical barriers and enablers. The findings of this project can facilitate the integration of upcycled food into the Swedish food supply chain and market and be shared and upscaled to create impact (e.g., a blueprint for setting up upcycled food chains, policy recommendations, etc).

Approach and implementation:

The needs assessment tool questions will be developed by researchers and distributed to selected food supply chain stakeholders. The questions will explore the barriers and enablers of converting food residues to upcycled food. According to the findings, various strategies for upcycled food development will be evaluated, and feasible solutions will be discussed with selected stakeholders. Possible approaches for upcycled food production will also be considered.