Capturing the Prize: the A$200 billion opportunity for Australia's food and agribusiness sector/ Enhanced Production and Value Addition / Food loss and waste
Opportunities to reduce food loss and waste throughout the supply chain (primary producers, manufacturers and consumers), improve the sustainability of production and supply and develop viable value-added end products from what is currently wasted.
Savio Healthy Innovations has created Upple® – a drinkable whole apple in a bottle. Different to a juice, it contains all the healthy components – the peel, crunchy bits, and juice – offering a far higher fibre and nutritional level.
Savio has sustainably converted imperfect whole apples into a value-added, convenient product for consumers who want to grab something quick and healthy on the go.
It has solved the consumer need for a healthy, nutritious and 100 per cent natural snack. It has also solved the business problem of needing to find a value-added product to ensure the future sustainability of its apple-growing business.
It stands alone in a new beverage category of drinkable whole fruit. It is stocked in Harris Farm Markets and IGA, and airlines have expressed interest. It is estimated that 3.5 million imperfect apples are saved from food waste every year. Savio uses apples from its own orchard but hopes to use out-of-spec apples from its wider district in time.
With guidance from an innovation consultant, Savio transformed from an apple grower to the creator of a unique new product offering. They undertook a market review into apple consumption, and commissioned a consumer insight agency to better understand consumer needs and desires. They worked with a food innovation expert to come up with several new product ideas that matched the consumer need. A food processing engineer developed the product concepts, and all were tested with the target consumer until deciding on Upple – the best fit.
It took three years to get the unique manufacturing process bedded down. There is a patent-pending on the process.
FIAL supplied match funding to help Savio further develop the product for commercialisation. The strong brand name ‘Upple®’ was created – now trademarked globally, as well as developing a visual identity and a unique packaging design.
This case study is from FIAL's 2022 edition of Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations 2022
