Every industry would have a ‘Smart’ category of people who have ideas, knowledge, and skills that give them an edge over the others. Identifying such talent and investing on them would generate a business value that is out of proportion compared to what was invested on them.
For instance, reducing food waste is an area of concern for many food companies. While food waste is a wasted financial cost, it also adds to unnecessary greenhouse gases getting added to the atmosphere.
In this line an association of food companies recently coined a word ‘Upcycled Food’. The word ‘Upcycling’ was officially coined in 2002, but entered the mainstream dictionaries much later. It means picking a product which we would otherwise throw away, and giving it new life.
Barnana, a banana snack making company does food upcycling. They pick imperfect bananas that aren’t the right color or size or shape, which would otherwise go to waste; and convert these bananas into chewy banana bites in various flavours. This creates an additional income to the farmers and bananas are sourced at a good price which is good for businesses as well.
‘Food Upcycling’ is an interesting case where an innovator in a mainstream industry adds a new word to the dictionary and that leads to creating a new sub-industry by itself.
by Dr. Deepika Prabhu, ITF