The food and drink industry has and will continue to face significant challenges following BREXIT, COVID-19, and the Ukraine-Russia war. Pressures on raw material availability, increasing manufacturing and production costs coupled with consumer demand for sustainable ingredients has underlined the need for resilient and circular economy sustainable supply chain solutions for nutritious ingredients to benefit food and drink manufacturers across Wales.

Health and nutrition are also major concerns for Wales. The sugar pandemic adversely impacts a large proportion of the Welsh population and is responsible for multiple diseases such as obesity (58% of adults in Wales), diabetes (affecting >800,000 in Wales, £500M annual NHS burden) and tooth decay (22% of children in Wales). Offering alternative natural sweeteners in the general diet to alleviate the harmful effects of sugar are required to compliment Government efforts to reduce sugar consumption through initiatives such as sugar tax.

This project aims to support the utilisation of by-product streams to develop new xylitol-containing products as sugar-reduction exemplars for the wider Food and Drink industry to develop new market opportunities post Covid while contributing to improved diets to improve health.   

Business Support

Through this project we will help businesses understand how they can manage by-products and waste to support business growth and promote zero-waste. This will include engaging with businesses from sectors including but not limited to: agriculture, forestry, brewing, distilling, paper and pulp, diary, produce and other organic by-product/waste producers. Additionally, support will be provided for Food and Drink companies working to reduce sugar sustainably, including development of products utilising waste.

Business support will be provided through:

• Workshops & networking events to stimulate engagement with F&D businesses to identify available by-product streams
• Initial consultation as per a defined by-product evaluation framework
• By-product compositional analysis and techno-economic assessment to determine by-product’s economic feasibility for xylitol production
• New product development activities for making chocolates, cookies & confectionaries using xylitol.
• Masterclasses for Welsh businesses (making chocolates, chewing gum, confectionaries, baking goods and nutritional drinks) to develop healthier products and catalyse mutually beneficial partnerships.

To find out more about how we can support your business contact us at info@arcitekbio.co.uk