More and more foundations are betting on initiatives aimed at the production of canned food with social value
Surely this 2022 will be the year in which more micro-entrepreneurs and or small businesses focused on social, sustainability, ecology and circular economy will appear. According to KPMG Trends, we are living the decade of the transformation of the global economy, focused on sustainability and circular production.
The pandemic and all that it has entailed, and still entails, have been the triggers. This situation has shown us how vulnerable we are and how important it is to take care of our planet. We have become aware of the urgency of changing certain habits and lifestyles that are unhealthy and unfriendly to citizens and the environment.
Many people have decided to leave the hustle and bustle of the city and move to the countryside to embark on new projects and give free rein to those dreams that were previously considered impossible. Projects based on the production of gourmet preserves and ready meals. Initiatives that can be carried out in rural areas, with natural ingredients and also have a social, ecological and sustainable background.
Trends for 2022: preserves with social value
At TERRA Food-Tech®, thanks to the work of many of our customers, we are seeing how this trend is becoming a reality.
We have been working for some time now with non-profit organizations that produce canned food with social value, seeking to integrate people at risk of exclusion into the labor market and society, raise awareness of food waste and minimize the negative impact of the food system on the environment. All this, based on the circular economy and solidarity.
Foundations that produce gourmet canned food and ready-to-eat meals
Despite the different missions and visions of these entities, they all share the same interest, the common good. We will introduce you to them below:
Feedback Global
Sussex Surplus is one of the social projects of the British non-profit organization Feedback Global. This particular initiative is based on the production of canned soups and creams from vegetables, especially pumpkin and zucchini, discarded because of their appearance or because they are not purchased.
In addition, it is a kind of regional food economy pilot project, whose purpose is to create paid jobs for young people with neurodiversity.
Sussex Surplus began at the end of 2020, a very complicated time due to the pandemic and Brexit. All of this made it difficult to deliver your TERRA Food-Tech® CFS-28V autoclave due to the interruption of trade routes.
Despite all the inconveniences, they were not discouraged and today they continue to make delicious and healthy soups and canned creams of pumpkin and zucchini.
For more information, visit their success story.
Espigoladors Foundation
Espigoladors Foundation is a non-profit organization based in El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona) with three main lines of action:
• Fighting for food utilization.
• Guarantee the right to healthy food.
• Create job opportunities for groups at risk of social exclusion.
Starting from this triple premise, they decided to give life to a new line of products, called es im-perfect®. First brand in Spain that makes and markets creams, jams, pates and sauces from surplus fruit and vegetables discarded due to their appearance.
es im-perfect® was born from the need to fight for food efficiency and to guarantee the right to healthy food for everyone. Of the immense quantities of food wasted each year, a significant part is produced in the post-harvest and processing stages, where fruits and vegetables that do not meet the aesthetic standards required by regulations and demanded by the market are rejected.
It is evident that in the creams, jams, pâtés and sauces of es im-perfect®, the ugliness of these fruits and vegetables, fit for human consumption, is no longer perceived.
You can learn more about the work of the Espigoladors Foundation in their success story.
Mas Albornà Foundation
Mas Albornà Foundation is an organization in Alt Penedès, in the province of Barcelona, with more than half a century of experience in the field of social and labor integration of people with intellectual functional diversity, mental disorder and risk of exclusion.
In 2018, the Mas Albornà Foundation had the opportunity to revive a business that was in danger of disappearing. It was Mallart Artesanos Charcuteros, a family workshop with more than a century of history and through which 5 generations have passed. However, the last generational change in the business is a person with an intellectual disability, a functional diversity that makes the management of the company difficult. For this reason, they decided to contact the Mas Albornà Foundation with a double purpose: to guarantee the stability and quality of their son’s job, as well as to preserve the continuity of the family business by preventing its disappearance.
The uncertainty regarding the continuity of the family business eventually turned into an opportunity, a social initiative in the food sector.
And now, in Mallart Artesanos Charcuteros, in addition to the different sausages they already made, they offer pates, such as the rustic Gallo del Penedès IGP, the first pâté with Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and which won the INNOFÒRUM 2021 Award for the most original taste.
Discover the history of the Mas Albornà Foundation in their success story.
More stories of overcoming challenges and with great added value
In the production of gourmet preserves and ready meals there is a whole world and a cast of entities, small producers, chefs and restaurateurs who have decided to reinvent themselves to make this their new way of life and also:
• Offer wholesome and healthy food
• Give time to diners, saving them work
• Give a second life to surpluses
• Take advantage of moments with less work, especially in the restaurant sector
• Cope with difficult times, such as those we have experienced with the pandemic
Our customers tell you about all this and more in their successstories that you will find on our website, where you can learn about their personal history and their experience when they started in the world of canning with TERRA Food-Tech®.