Chichester based sustainable snacking brand, set to ‘rescue’ one million kilos of wasted fruit

The Chichester based snacking brand has announced it has rescued an impressive 30,000 kilos of fruit from going to waste; transforming it into climate positive snacks in the process.Yet, with the knowledge that 1.3 million tonnes of fruit goes to waste each and every year, Squished’s recent milestone has not slowed its efforts to save as much fruit as possible. Now, the sustainably-driven food producers have set their sights on rescuing a staggering one million kilograms of fruit by 2024.

Located on the site of a berry farm, Squished has direct access to hundreds of tonnes of fruit as soon as is ‘wasted’ by being surplus to the harvest or undesirable to supermarket buyers due to shape, size or sheer quantity. Squished then uses technology to dry the rescue fruit and make it into a very adaptable shelf-stable ingredient and product.

In order to reach its one million kilogram goal, Squished is ramping up its operations by targeting new opportunities including airport and retailers as well as expanding its range with new product additions. Most recently, Squished has added Apple flavoured energy balls and flapjacks to its product line but also have plans to target the parenting market with the launch of a ‘child-friendly’ sized products.

Currently, Squished includes a range of energy ball, fruit flapjacks and jams, with a selection of vegan, gluten-free and nut-free products included.

Squished Founder and Director, Paul McCulloch said: ‘There is an increased public awareness of the effects the food industry has on the environment. More customers are actively looking for products that will not only be good for their health, but also good for the planet. That’s why the more Squished snacks that are sold, the more fruit can be rescued.’

‘Squished has now rescued 30,000 kilos of surplus fruit and repurposed into delicious fruity snacks. Blueberries, strawberries and apples are the mainstay of our product range but we have also recently taken in 100kg of rescue blackberries and 500kg of rescue raspberries to put through our process and let our NPD guys work their magic in adding more flavours to our product range, so we are confident that we will be able to hit our target of rescuing 1 million kilos of fruit by 2024.’ McCulloch added.

‘Very exciting times for the range but the focus is on rescuing more surplus fruit and reaching our next milestone of tonnes rescued.’

Richard Bonn COO of Squished supplier, The Summer Berry company said: “The supply chain that we serve requires us to grow surplus crop so that the demands of our customers are always met.

"We are delighted to be supporting the efforts of the team at Squished who rescue this surplus and transform it into delicious snacks. Their location on our farm means that this can be achieved in the most efficient way.”