Fruit and vegetable by-products are produced throughout their supply chains: on farms, during industrial processing and in professional and home kitchens. All these peels, seeds, stems, shells, pits, pulp, roots, leaves and other bits of fruits and vegetables might be the parts that particular crops aren’t typically cultivated for, aren’t typically thought of as edible for people, or if they are edible, aren’t widely consumed. These components are often among the most nutritious parts of the plant, rich in dietary fibre, vitamins, antioxidants, polyphenols and other active compounds.¹ Upcycling through fermentation and other techniques offers a way to unlock this otherwise wasted potential for nourishment and flavour.

This is a different challenge to the equally important one of reducing wastage of perfectly edible fruit and vegetables caused by overbuying, improper storage, packaging factors, expired ‘best before dates’ or other reasons. Similarly, reducing on-farm food waste and loss caused by leaving perfectly edible food in the field due to surpluses, order cancellations, failure to meet cosmetic expectations, and losses due to pests or diseases is also vital.

The fate of these by-products varies regionally. Although those produced industrially or in kitchens sometimes go to green waste for domestic or municipal composting, much ends up being incinerated or going to landfill. Those produced on farms are sometimes already put to good use to improve soil health by composting them or simply leaving them in the field as stubble or mulch, or are fed to animals, substituting other crops that could otherwise feed people directly. Depending on the context, these long-standing uses may still well make the most sense. But in certain cases, by expanding our perspective on edibility, we can utilise these by-products to produce more deliciousness and resilience without growing extra food.

Here we present some of our culinary research into ways we can better utilise fruit & veg by-products:

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