Trend watch: upcycled ingredients

We all know sustainability is important, and it's interesting to see the different ways that brands approach the issue. One thing we're seeing more and more of is the use of upcycled ingredients.

What is an upcycled ingredient, we hear you ask?

In short, it's using the byproduct of one product to make a new one.

Examples include Seven Sundays Oat Protein Cereal, which uses oats leftover from the oat milk manufacturing process and claims that its "upcycled oat protein has 3x the protein and 2x the fibre as the whole oat".

Barley leftover by beer brewers is another popular option.

MyProtein's Plant Protein Superblend is made from upcycled barley and provides 20g of protein per serving. It uses EverPro barley rice protein, from AB InBev's EverGrain, which is Upcycled Certified® by the Upcycled Food Association.

Biasol, makers of protein pre-mixes and cereals, use brewer's spent grain alongside whey protein, and focus on the upcycled ingredient as part of its marketing - it's called out at brand level across the website and at product-level on pack.

With the Environmental Protection Agency reporting that food waste accounts for 24% of the material in American landfills, we can see why upcycled ingredients are growing in popularity. Expect to see more hitting the shelves soon.