Westfalia cuts avocado waste by using the stone to craft a skincare product

Winner: Westfalia Fruit UK

Entries in the Waste Not Want Not category, inspired by The Grocer’s campaign to tackle the millions of tonnes of food thrown out by the industry, always impress judges with their creative approaches.

In the case of avocado supplier Westfalia Fruit, its goal to reduce food waste required particular creativity.

It aimed to use as much of the as much avocado fruit as possible – including the stone, which often gets thrown away or used for anaerobic digestion.

So last year, the business joined forces with beauty brand Dr Craft to create a “first to market” skin exfoliator using avocado stone, which hit UK markets in autumn last year.

The innovation followed years of research to develop a process of extracting perfectly-sized particles that could mimic the performance of less-sustainable exfoliating alternatives, such as the plastic microbeads that are sometimes used in skincare products.

The company is also looking at other ways of using the avocado skin and stone, such as using them as a colouring agent in a wide range of products.

Plus, it’s looking to find use for the 8%-10% of avocados that are not suitable for sale as whole fruits.

“It’s been an exciting journey to be on,” say Graham Isaac and Alastair Pack, Westfalia Fruit UK general managers. “I like to think of it as being an example of good in the industry, and our purpose as a company is to do good.”

Shortlisted:

• Booker - No good food should go to waste
• Co-op - Caboodle
• Dash Water - #LoveWonky
• Finnebrogue - The Food Shack
• HelloFresh - The Felix Project Partnership
• Westfalia Fruit UK - Pioneering the use of whole avocado within the supply chain