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Calling anything “food alchemy” is a big-swing at-bat, but upcycled foods might just live up to the magic — especially when that means transforming old bread into bagel chips.

Much like upcycled clothing and upcycled furniture, upcycled food turns overlooked or disregarded products like fruit rinds and leftover brewery grain into new opportunities. Sales for upcycled goods have grown nearly 50% in the past year alone.

This week, we’re diving into how mainstream America feels about upcycled food and what brands can do to get in on the action.

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How can upcycling food double as a great business strategy?

If you’ve never heard of upcycled foods before now, you’re not alone.

While the concept of reusing scrap food has been around as long as humans have been cooking, the term wasn’t set in stone until 2020 by the Upcycled Food Association.

Now, the industry is estimated to be worth more than $46 billion. Over the past few years, upcycled foods have topped trend lists at places like Kroger, Whole Foods, and even Pinterest.

Legacy brands like Danone are using “rescued fruit” in yogurt, and startups like Renewal Mill, Blue Stripes, and Trashy Chips are flooding the aisles of local grocery stores with upcycled baking mixes, hydration drinks, and veggie chips.

Here’s why upcycled food is a win-win for companies and customers.

• 💸 Cost reduction: Not only are byproducts like potato skins still edible, but they’re also often cheaper (if not entirely free) for companies to use since they’d otherwise be scrapped. Lower upfront costs boost margins for the final upcycled product.
• 🧑‍🍳 More nutritious: These foods still have tons of value. For example, leftover cacao pods (used to make chocolate) have no refined sugar and are high in fiber, improving consumer health when upcycled into cacao water and granola.
• 🗑️ Decreased food waste: In the U.S., over 30% of all food goes to waste. Finding alternative uses for food scraps, and even for misshapen produce, means less ends up in landfills. Bonus: Less food waste = lower emissions, as right now roughly half of all food industry pollution comes from food waste.

In a vacuum, upcycled foods make perfect logic. But as anyone who’s gone into a Costco just for paper towels and come out with a new flatscreen TV knows, consumers often don’t make rational purchases — especially when we pull in the “ick” factor associated with products touting a “food waste” origin story.

So, what moves the needle for shoppers when it comes to upcycled food? More on that below.

Our data: What do consumers think of upcycled foods?

We ran an audience poll from our proprietary data stack to find out what drives consumer appetite for upcycled foods. We asked: “Would you buy juice or yogurt made with bruised or misshapen fruit?”

The strong 61% majority vote for “If I couldn’t tell the difference” suggests that perceived normalcy is the single most important factor driving upcycled food adoption.

Meanwhile, the 29% combined vote for “If it were cheaper” and “If it were healthier” suggests that a meaningful number of potential adopters need special convincing to choose upcycled foods.

Diving deeper into the split results adds an interesting twist: The consistent overperformance of the “If I couldn’t tell the difference” response across all three splits — a.k.a. when the poll was run in articles with a waste focus, risk focus, and money focus — underscores consumers’ openness to upcycled foods that they perceive to be normal.

Our weekly A/B test highlighting different messaging angles — “fighting food waste” vs. “health benefits” — rounds out the picture for how brands can market upcycled products.

The balanced attention and engagement shares across both messages suggest that consumers are comparably motivated by the waste mitigation benefits and health benefits of upcycled foods. An optimal marketing strategy would leverage both value props to maximize consumer interest.

See full results →

TCD LABS research is powered by our proprietary GreenScreen data stack. You can access historical GreenScreen tests and polls — and commission your own bespoke experiments — here and here.

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DOING IT RIGHT

What the experts have to say about upcycled foods

Going beyond the data, The Cool Down spoke exclusively with three upcycled food experts to get their qualitative take on how to leverage this up-and-coming trend. Here are the big takeaways:

Meeting customers where they’re comfortable: Daniel Kurzrock, founder and CEO of Upcycled Foods — which recently launched an upcycled bread with Kroger — noted that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to messaging “upcycled.”

🗣️ “We should focus on what upcycling can unlock and enable, be it plant-based or ketogenic or digestive health … and tap into the demand that’s already there for that, as opposed to trying to draw attention to a new type of demand.”

Jumping in while the water’s warm: Vinodthan Nayagar, director of organic divisions at Where Food Comes From, discussed the company’s recent acquisition of the upcycled certification program, one of the fastest-growing certifications in the U.S.

🗣️ Around 390,000 tons of food waste have been diverted annually since the program launched. Nayagar noted, “I’ve seen how we can actually make a positive impact and leave the planet better than what we found.”

Lean into the excitement of it: Amanda Oenbring, CEO of the Upcycled Food Association, emphasized the unique opportunity brands have to capitalize on consumer engagement.

🗣️ Upcycling is “a way to turn something that exists and make it better, make it more beautiful.” And while “taste is king [and] value is right there too,” she mentioned there’s also a huge place for new product excitement. “I feel like that’s where upcycling has a really unique role to play.”

🍏🎨 Why these ‘ridiculously creative’ snacks may be the future of food products

Food creativity isn’t just for the Great British Bake Off — upcycled products can come from the most unlikely places.

🍕♻️ This pizzeria turns food scraps into gourmet pies

Shuggie’s Trash Pie in San Francisco works with local farmers to scoop up surplus food and ugly produce to create delicious pizza.

🤯🍦 Ice cream maker rolls out unusual flavors to reduce food waste

Artisanal ice cream company Salt & Straw has partnered with upcycled food orgs like Urban Gleaners to offer a special line of upcycled ice cream.

💚🍬 This new, eco-friendly ‘sugar’ has half the calories of cane sugar

“Supplant” is a sugar alternative that’s made from plants that are normally thrown out, significantly reducing food waste while making food healthier and more abundant.

🛍️🍐 How one online grocer is saving customers 20% on food costs

Misfits Market offers a curated selection of goods that were deemed “too ugly” for grocery stores but will taste every bit as good — and for less.

Interested in learning about our offerings for businesses, or want your company to be featured on The Cool Down? Click here for more information, or email us at partners@thecooldown.com.

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