Food Waste Warriors case study three:
- How Unilever is innovating to combat food waste in the production process
- In Germany 18% of all food waste happens during the production process1
With Unilever committed to halving all food waste across its operations by 2025 and seeing zero good food destroyed, the Cremissimo team decided to tackle the issue of production waste head on.
Their mission? To prove that potential food waste could – with a bit of imagination – be transformed into desirable product and even create an exciting new revenue opportunity.
The how
During any ice cream production process some ice cream becomes residue for technical reasons –. Until now this unused, equally delicious ice cream, has been lost to the process.
Now, thanks to radical thinking that loss and waste is a thing of the past, with the Cremissimo team developing an innovative process in which they ‘rescue’ unused ice cream from various productions and products, and melt it down into a rich creamy blend that can be combined with high quality ingredients before flowing back into the production process.
The result? A mouth watering new eco-conscious experience – the world’s first ever ‘saved’ ice cream – every bit as scrumptious as any Cremissimo flavour devoured before.
New Cremissimo Chocolate Hero, made from up to 40% ‘would-be-wasted’, delicious ice cream, gives sustainably minded customers a guilt free hit of rich chocolate ice cream blended with decadent chocolate sauce and white chocolate chips. Moreish taste with a conscience – the ultimate treat.
The wow
Chocolate Hero has proved an immediate hit with today’s conscious consumer, becoming a Summer sellout in the year of its launch and an instant top five flavour for Cremissimo.
Over 1.2 million Cremissimo Chocolate Hero tubs have been sold to date – a waste reduction of 160 tonnes of ice cream or 300,000 tubs of ice cream a year
Additionally, each tub of Cremissimo Chocolate Hero is made from 100% recyclable plastic and also features food waste NGO Too Good To Go’s ‘Past my date – don’t waste’ label – making Cremissimo the first ice cream brand in Germany to feature this type of food waste combatting guidance.
References
1 https://www.thuenen.de/media/institute/lr/Startseite_Aktuelles/baseline_summary_190916.pdf