Coles, in partnership with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and producer Fresh Select, have created a nutritious snack from vegetables destined for waste. The veggie puffs Nutri V Goodies repurpose more than 7200 tonnes of recovered vegetables.
Coles chief executive of commercial and express Leah Weckert said Coles is proud to partner with suppliers to develop a healthier snack that will support the supermarket’s Together to Zero sustainability ambitions.
“Coles is excited to exclusively launch Nutri V Goodies today. Not only will this partnership offer our customers a tasty and healthier snack food, it finds a sustainable solution for perfectly nutritious vegetables that for reasons like oversupply or damage, we couldn’t sell.
“Nutri V Goodies are an excellent example of what’s possible when working alongside our suppliers to develop an innovative idea that will reduce food waste, support farmers to become more sustainable and help Coles achieve its Together to Zero ambitions,” said Weckert.
Nutri V Goodies have two serves of vegetables in each pack and offer a higher vegetable load than many other snack foods on the market.
Nutri V CEO Raquel Said said when it comes to vegetables there’s no such thing as ‘ugly’ instead the company transforms broccoli, pumpkin and cauliflower that wasn’t suitable for shelves due to issues like oversupply and appearance.
“Nutri V is a business driven by innovation and sustainability, and we’re proud to have developed a solution that helps reduce food waste, encourages sustainable farming and helps make eating Aussie veggies tastier and more convenient,” Said said.
CSIRO director agriculture and food Dr Michael Robertson says CSIRO’s partnership with Fresh Select is a great example of how research and industry can work together to benefit Australia.
“Vegetable-based foods such as these can help farmers add value to their business, while reducing food waste and helping consumers increase their intake of vegetables.
“With our unique expertise and facilities in food research, we created healthy concept products and Nutri V developed an innovative scaled process to take them to market,” said Robertson.
Nutri V’s first processing module is located on the farm of their parent company, Fresh Select, one of Australia’s largest brassica growers and long-term Coles supplier. The veggies are picked and sorted in the mornings, washed, dried into powders and turned into the veggie snacks by the afternoon.
Retailing for $5.50, Nutri V Goodies are gluten free, Australian made and vegetarian and can be found in the health food aisle of all Coles supermarkets.
