Help for Aussie agribusinesses to turn food waste into commercial products

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A new programme has been launched to help Aussie businesses reduce food waste.

The people behind it said food waste cost Australia an estimated $20 billion each year, and Australians were throwing out nearly 300kg of food per person per year.

In Australia, many of the 2 million-plus small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) struggle with food waste too, and it is difficult for them to tackle this without access to funding, skills and expertise to find the solution.

Food Innovation Australia Limited is funding the Fight Food Waste SME Solutions Centre, an industry-led grant programme being rolled out by the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre in partnership with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

This $200k grant programme offers matched funds of up to $50k to help SMEs find solutions to their agri-food waste challenges.

Fight Food Waste CRC chief executive Dr Steven Lapidge said "This unique programme will give SMEs the opportunity to tell the Fight Food Waste CRC their agri-food waste challenges and the Fight Food Waste SME Solutions Centre research community will find the best solutions for them and offer matching funds up to $50k to deliver solutions."

"For example, you could be an SME in rural Australia that grows onions. You notice that 10 per cent of your onions never make it out of the packhouse due to current buyer standards. If you apply to the Fight Food Waste SME Solutions Centre, we will put your agri-food waste challenge to Australia's best food waste researchers and our international connections to determine the highest value use," Lapidge said.

"We want to make sure that you have the best solutions available to tackle these challenges, including the necessary training.

"Food is meant to be eaten and I haven't met anyone yet who does not feel guilty about wasting food. So, this is a solvable global challenge, and it is an opportunity for Australia's SMEs to turn a waste stream into a new value chain and provide an additional income to their operations."

Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries executive director-General Dr Beth Woods said the research centre was looking for applications that had a high commercialisation potential, with SMEs demonstrating a strong understanding of the consumer or market demand for a new product.

The Fight Food Waste SME Solutions Centre was officially opened today at the Health, Food and Sciences Precinct, Coopers Plains in Brisbane.