Abstract
Investing in food waste reduction initiatives and fnding innovations that unlock the potential of food waste makes great sense from an economic, social, and environmental perspective. One food waste prevention action that is gaining considerable momentum in the food production and manufacturing sectors is upcycling food. Upcycled foods are made from ingredients that would otherwise have ended up in a food waste destination. They are valueadd products. This chapter introduces the latest upcycling marketplace trends and companies in the market selling upcycled products before taking a further look at upcycling in a country case study context: New Zealand. Given, ultimately, the success or failure of this sector will depend on consumer acceptability of these new products, results from a consumer study consisting of four focus groups (total n=29) and a nationally representative survey of 1000 consumers were carried out to assess consumers’ perceptions of foods derived from supermarket surplus bread. The results of this study indicate that there appears to be suffcient demand in New Zealand to consider upcycling as an idea with exciting market potential.