Mushrooms Grown on Old Bread, and Vodka Made from ‘Throwaway’ Pasta

According to a study on food waste published at the beginning of last year, Croatia throws away as much as 71 kilograms of food annually, with 76 percent of the total waste generated in households. Although retail contributes the smallest share (around two percent), it is indicative that the largest share of total waste in that category (76 percent) relates to food waste.

Due to this fact, numerous retail chains across Europe are striving to minimize food waste or, even better, transform it into something useful. For instance, the Belgian retail chain Bio-Planet decided to ‘save’ loaves of bread, so instead of throwing them in the trash, they send them to a local mushroom grower, the farm ECLO, which mixes them with sawdust. The resulting substrate is packaged in bags and pasteurized, after which mycelium is added, and mushrooms begin to grow. After one to three months, ECLO harvests these organically grown mushrooms and sells them in Bio-Planet stores. The partnership was initiated after an experimental phase in which ECLO collected bread from Bio-Planet’s parent company, Colruyt.

Upcycled Certified

In addition to bread scraps, as reported by Trendwatcher, organic waste from two Brussels stores is also used in mushroom production. During 2021, as much as 61 percent of the substrate for mushrooms from various organic growers contained verified ‘waste’ material, and as this industry gains momentum (mushrooms are the new superfood), it is likely that the percentage of waste going to mushroom cultivation will increase in the future.

As the Trendwatcher team continues, mushrooms are not the only ‘product’ that can benefit from old bread. The company Gotlant Spirits produces vodka, coffee liqueur, and limoncello using old bread, pasta, grains, and coffee that stores and bakeries would otherwise throw away. Given that an increasing number of companies in the food, beverage, cleaning, supplements, or cosmetics sectors are showing interest in ‘waste’ raw materials, the American organization Upcycled Food Association will soon begin distributing labels ‘Upcycled Certified‘ that will accompany the now-familiar labels on products such as ‘gluten-free‘, ‘vegan‘, or ‘certified organic‘.

In this way, they hope to further motivate companies to harness the potential of waste and help reduce carbon emissions. It is estimated that at least one-third of the food produced is never eaten, and food waste contributes eight percent to total global emissions.