SARDI and VTT Joint symposium: Profiting from
Food Loss
Back row: Dr. Josh Hixson (Australian Wine Research Industry) Front row L-R: Dr. Stephen Pahl (SARDI FS&I Research Scientist), Prof. Johanna Buchert (VTT Vice
President, Research), Dr. Svetlana Rodgers (SARDI FS&I Program Leader), Dr. John Kettle (VTT Vice President, Customer Solutions), Ms. Anu Kaukovirta-Norja (VTT
Vice President, Operations), Dr. Steven Lapidge (SARDI Director, Agribusiness), Dr. Nafty Vanderhoek (VTT Australian Senior Advisor).
On the 20th February 2015, SARDI and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, facilitated a joint
symposium on ‘reducing food loss and waste’. In today’s society, food waste is a means to increasing
agricultural productivity and is high on the governments agenda. Presentations from VTT and SARDI
discussed waste streams in the major food commodities (cereal, fruit & vegetable, fish and meat), current
and potential innovations to reduce and transform waste, and business development initiatives aimed at
funding the required R&D. This was followed by a workshop where companies and research organisations
identified potential new solutions for South Australia.
Feedback from the attendees was that they received a wealth of useful and interesting information and that
the symposium provided a unique opportunity for the attendees to establish collaborations and interact with
top experts in the field (see some specific feedback from the participants below):
“It was very eye-opening to learn about the great breadth and capabilities of VTT- it was quite aweinspiring at times”
“I found the recovery of berry residue after juicing very interesting, especially that large amounts
are being used to protein enrich other foods. With SA producing over 50% of Australian wine and
also producing large numbers of pigs, the potential use of grape marc in pig feed is of real interest”
“We should be looking into alternative technologies (like dry milling versus wet milling of rapeseed)
to reduce food waste. Similar things can be looked at in Australian food industry as well”.
“From the presentations given, I learnt that in general, there are many by-products from the
production of foodstuffs. Some of these are currently used as animal foods and other low-value end
uses and others are sent to landfill. I found the presentations that were given to be highly
enlightening in terms of the costs of food wastes and the potential uses of these wastes. The thing
that struck me most was how difficult it is to identify the sources of waste. The example provided of
the Australian Wine Research Institute showed just how many sources of waste there are and how
difficult it can be to change systems that have become entrenched into industry standard practices”.
Exciting discussions following a VTT presentation
Networking at morning tea
The presentations delivered at the Sympoisum were as follows:

Brewers’ spent grains (BSG) and cereal by-products to value-added ingredients
(Professor Johanna Buchert, VTT)

Canola/rape seed cake and its use for valuable products
(Ms. Anu Kaukovirta-Norja, VTT)

Potato waste as potential source for value added ingredients
(Professor Johanna Buchert, VTT)

Berry cakes from juice processing and its further up-grading
(Professor Johanna Buchert, VTT)

Waste from wine
(Dr. Josh Hixson & Dr. Vince O’Brien, AWRI)

Thermochemical conversions of wastes from meat industry
(Dr. John Kettle & Matti Nieminen, VTT)

Seafood: value-adding to undervalued species and waste utilization
(Dr. Stephen Pahl, SARDI FS&I)

SARDI business development activities related to food loss
(Dr. Steven Lapidge, SARDI Agribusiness)
SARDI will be facilitating similar seminars in the future. The next seminar will be held on Friday 27th March
2015 and will focus on food safety & innovative research (promotional flyer attached).
To access the presentations (for SARDI staff only) please use the following link
https://objectivep.pirsa.sa.gov.au/id:qA173268. For external parties that would like copies of the
presentations please contact SARDI on the details below.
For further information, please contact SF&I Program Leader Dr. Svetlana Rodgers
P: (08) 8303 9618 | M: 0475 828 849 | E: [email protected]