Let's Save Some Food! Fighting Food Waste with Secontaste and Friends (Hungarian Edition! 💪😁)

Hey there, fellow food lovers! It's your friendly team from Secontaste, brought to you by TransFoodMission, here to dish out a heaping helping of knowledge on a topic we're passionate about: fighting food loss & waste! Did you know that a third of all the food produced globally ends up in the trash? That's a whole lot of potential deliciousness going to waste (and landfills!). But fear not, dear readers, because a league of extraordinary Hungarian companies is out there fighting the good fight, and TransFoodMission, with its star brand Secontaste, is proud to be part of this waste-busting crew!

Food Loss & Waste 101: Let's Get Down to the Nitty-Gritty

Before diving into the solutions, let’s break down the food loss & waste problem, starting with something that people might not know much about – Food Loss. This is the “behind-the-scenes” issue of food wastage happening even before food reaches our plates. Food loss occurs during harvesting, processing, and transportation, often due to logistical challenges, spoilage, or aesthetic standards that deem certain produce "too ugly" for the shelves. This hidden side of food waste is not always visible to consumers, but it has a significant impact on resources and the environment.

Then, there's Food Waste – this is where consumers and retailers take center stage. It’s the leftovers we forget, the expired yogurt hiding in the fridge, or the loaf of bread that went stale before we could finish it. These everyday actions contribute to a significant amount of food waste at the household level. According to a 2023 survey by Nébih, an average of 62 kg of food waste is generated per person each year in Hungarian households, 41% of which could be avoided. Similarly, the United Nations' Food Waste Index Report 2024 highlights that most countries still have room for improvement, emphasizing the need for greater investment in food waste reduction initiatives.

A Feast of Solutions: Meet the Hungarian Food Waste Warriors

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s introduce the inspiring Hungarian companies leading the charge in reducing food waste:

• Hungarian Food Bank Association: Known as the "Robin Hood of food," Food Bank rescues surplus food from manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers, redistributing it to those in need before it goes to waste.

• Munch: This app helps prevent food waste by connecting consumers with surplus food from local businesses at low prices. They've saved 3 million "surprise packages" from the landfill, equivalent to the emissions of 83,000 roundtrip flights between Paris and Rome!

• Budapest Bike Maffia: Not your average cycling enthusiasts, this organization rescues food, supports the homeless, and builds community gardens, becoming the Avengers of sustainability on wheels.

• Heroes of Responsible Dining Foundation: The champions of sustainability in the hospitality industry and among the public, who help students learn methods for reducing food waste through programs like  Padtárs (meaning “Seatmate”), thus shaping the mindset of the next generation.

• Maradéknélkül: This website offers a wealth of tips, tricks, recipes, and even a "waste-free map" to help individuals and businesses reduce food waste.

  
  

Downcycling, Recycling, and Other Waste-Busting Wonders

The fight against food loss and waste involves several impactful strategies:

Downcycling: Downcycling is recycling's slightly less glamorous sibling. It involves breaking down materials to create products of lesser value, like using nutrient-rich spent grain from breweries (such as what we use to make our yummy crackers!) to feed animals. While downcycling may not create high-end products for human consumption, it plays a crucial role in reducing food loss and ensuring valuable nutrients aren’t wasted. Agroloop in Hungary exemplifies this with black soldier fly larvae, which act as mini-downcycling machines, munching on food waste and converting it into high-quality protein for animal feed.

Recycling: This classic waste-busting strategy is all about transforming used materials into new products. For example, copy paper can become recycled copy paper, or aluminum cans can be reincarnated as new cans. Recycling helps to close the loop on materials, reducing the need for virgin resources and keeping waste out of landfills.

Upcycling: The Rockstar of Sustainability

One of our favorite solutions to food waste is upcycling, transforming often-overlooked food byproducts into valuable products. It's like recycling's cooler, more innovative cousin.

Companies like Grapoila are setting an inspiring example by ensuring that every part of the raw material is utilized. Through cold-pressing techniques, they extract oils and repurpose the remaining press cake into flours. What truly sets them apart is their zero-waste production process—any material that cannot be transformed into flour is used to create seed creams or as an ingredient in their natural cosmetic brand. This comprehensive approach not only reduces food loss but also fosters economic opportunities and promotes a circular economy, perfectly aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Secontaste: Upcycling for a Tastier Tomorrow (Brought to you by TransFoodMission!)

And finally, let’s talk about us! At Secontaste, a proud CPG brand within the TransFoodMission family, we specialize in transforming overlooked food byproducts—like spent grain from breweries (cheers to that!) and coffee grounds from your morning brew—into delicious upcycled snacks. We’ve also teamed up with Tunkitunki to create a mushroom-based dipping sauce made from "ugly" mushrooms that supermarkets reject. Basically, we’re culinary wizards—our wands are spatulas, and our magic lies in crafting irresistible flavor combinations!

We believe in using every ingredient to its fullest potential, just like our resourceful ancestors who invented breadcrumbs, sausages, and pálinka (that famously strong Hungarian spirit every local knows well).

Join the Movement!

So, what's the main message here? We can all be part of the solution!  Whether you're upcycling your leftovers, shopping at zero-waste stores, or supporting those amazing Hungarian organizations fighting food waste, every little action counts. And if you’re a company with byproducts or underutilized capacity and want to turn them into something valuable, we at TransFoodMission can help! We're ready to collaborate and create a more sustainable food system together. Let's raise a glass (or a bag of upcycled crackers) to a more sustainable future! 🌏