Food Upcycling Made Furry Easy
A 2020 study by researchers at the University of Edinburgh reported that of all 280 types of pet foods sold across the EU and the US, half of it is produced from fish or meat, while the other half originated from rice, wheat, and maize. In terms of carbon dioxide emission from dry pet food production, 106 million tonnes are emitted each year, beyond what is accumulated from countries like Mozambique and the Philippines. In 2019, it is recorded that 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste were being generated every day, unnecessarily.
Pirry Leung, one of the founders of Furry Green, a Hong Kong-based sustainable pet food business, acknowledged the growing influence of such problems and began finding remedies regionally. Knowing the carbon-intensive industrial nature of pet food production, Pirry hopes to inspire more start-ups to sell locally made-pet food, to reduce logistic carbon emission, too.
Since beginning only a year ago, Furry Green has diverted over 500kg of food waste, reduced 2.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and served 200 sheltered dogs in Hong Kong. With the aim of addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals 11, 12, and 13:
Furry Green upcycles “ugly” vegetables sourced from Vegetable Marketing Organization, incorporates them with protein, and slow-cooks the ingredients to produce fresh food packs for dogs.
The business takes one step further in food waste measures: to procure top-quality ingredients with edible skin such as Japanese pumpkins, to grind leftovers like eggshells into calcium powder (nutritious supplement), and to upcycle food waste into organic soil for growing vegetables. Although these routines might be more costly, they help push waste generated in the production chain towards minimal.
What prompted you to start Furry Green?
When I was working in a food recycling facility, I witnessed perfectly conditioned food being dumped for unknown reasons. I thought we needed to do something with these wasted resources.
What inspired your business objectives?
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, food waste leads to:
1. The economic loss of USD 1 Trillion - due to wasted labour, energy, and time.
2. Environmental loss of USD 700 Billion - stemming from soil erosion and the release of landfill methane
3. Social loss of USD 900 Billion - induced by increased food prices and nutritional deficiencies across the world
Why pet food specifically?
There are not too many "sustainable" or "green" pet foods in the market. One of the main reasons being that dogs and cats are carnivores. However, meat is actually more carbon-intensive compared to vegetables.
Pet owners and pet supplies industries are starting to dig into “greener” options. And I see that more and more pet parents are trying to avoid kibbles and other highly processed food, and instead, looking for these qualities in their pets’ foods:
1. Transparency of the ingredients and the processing of pet food
2. Organically sourced or clean meat
3. Options with high resemblance to human food or owners’ dietary preferences
From a consumer’s perspective, we thought that upcycled pet food would be more acceptable than human food. The capital cost for turning food waste into other products like chemicals or biogas is much higher compared to pet food. Plus, most pet parents welcome the idea of upcycling pet food.
How would you address problems arising from pricing?
Our pricing position is pretty similar to and not too far off from that of premium pet food. Customers don’t necessarily have to pay more switching to us
How does community engagement work for Furry Green?
“We are expanding our menu, serving dogs and cats with special dietary needs. We are also looking into future upcycling opportunities, to expand our business in utilizing textile and wood waste for pet toys.”
Where pets are not in every single household, those that are driven to help get to support less privileged dogs in the community through regular visits to feed shelter dogs and donation campaigns. Large corporations, like DBS Bank, have launched the “DBS Zero Waste Food Challenge - Lunch and Learn workshop” to educate staff on delicious ways to upcycle food wastes, to reduce social stigma towards food waste.
What YOU can do
Furry Green might not be accessible where you are, but purchase is a choice. A study by researchers from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands found that crickets produce up to 80% less methane than cows. It can also be easily reared on scarce land, unlike cows and sheep that require huge swathes of pasture to graze on. The UK-based LoveBug and Yora are examples of insect-based food brands that are considerable alternatives.
“It takes a long time for us to explain to people how we are different, why we are selling at our set prices, and most of all, why so much food is being wasted. However, most people we talked to understood our messages and the missions of our operation. I do believe that people are aware of our waste problem. I do believe that people want to do good.”
By Ottilie Cheung