6 Companies That Have Found Ways To Tackle Food Waste

Nearly 60 percent of all food produced in Canada never gets eaten, and the bulk of the food waste—86 percent—happens at the industry level. Here are some companies that have found some tasty solutions.

Loop Mission This Montreal-based company specializes in repurposing outcasts of the food industry, creating a circular economy by creating cold-pressed juices made from surplus produce. They also make delicious sour beer out of day-old bread and plans are underway to launch a fermented bubbly drink this spring. $5, Loopmission.com

Wize Monkey The leading pioneer in making tea from coffee leaves started as a Kickstarter campaign. Its tea blends are made from prunings from coffee plants that would otherwise be wasted, and has been shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties. $15 /100 g tin, Wizemonkey.com

Feedback The Toronto-based app borrows a tactic from airlines, offering time-specific deals from more than 300 local restaurants. At non-peak times, hungry diners can get takeout at up to 80 per cent off the original price. Feedbackapp.ca

Big Wheel Burger This popular Victoria burger joint operates on a carbon-neutral business model. “We do everything we can to be as sustainable as possible.” says general manager Yann Frizon de Lamotte. “For anything that can’t be neutralized, we go to Offsetters [a].” Besides using low-watt lights, high-efficiency appliances and low-flow toilets, Big Wheel turns its food containers, cutlery and scraps into compost that is picked up by a waste company and distributed for use in local community gardens. It also gives used cooking oil from its deep fryers to a company that converts it into biodiesel, which the restaurant then buys to power the cargo van that grinds and delivers meat to its two other locations. Each location has a digital carbon counter, so you can see how much carbon they are saving in real time. Bigwheelburger.com

Dose This subscription service delivers organic cold-pressed juices and upcycled smoothies right to your door. The pulp from juice production is re-purposed into non-dairy smoothies for added fibre. $60 per 10-pack shipped every two weeks, or $72 per 14-pack, Dosejuice.com

No Name With its Naturally Imperfect line, Loblaws offers fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables that may be misshapen or have small blemishes (but still taste great) for up to 30 per cent less. Loblaws.ca