The group wish to explore innovative ways of using mis-shapen vegetables (i.e. those that are out of spec for retail use) and want to investigate the potential of dehydrating them for use in various markets.
The group has an interest in adding value to mis-shapen vegetables, particularly on-farm and primary processing from vegetable that do not conform to customer specification. These often get fed to livestock or in some cases are returned back onto the land.
There is a potential market for dehydrated vegetables, especially in the pet snacks market, the human snacks market and in food manufacturing. At present much of this market is served by imports and there appears to be an opportunity to replace some of these imports with UK products, so this RISS group would like to use the project to investigate what the opportunities are, how best to add value and what resources are required.
The group also wish to understand the different methods of dehydrating and how sustainable energy could be used in this process, either directly (i.e. heat from sustainable sources) or if this is not practical, indirectly, to offset the energy used.
Field Lab Timeline
5/16/2019 11:00:00 PM
Launch meeting
Launch meeting
7/4/2019 11:00:00 PM
Supply, market and equipment research
Supply, market and equipment research
8/1/2019 11:00:00 PM
Meeting - discussing research findings, refine needs and solution options
Meeting - discussing research findings, refine needs and solution options
8/15/2019 11:00:00 PM
Individual phone calls to ensure all views are captured
Individual phone calls to ensure all views are captured
9/19/2019 11:00:00 PM
Project scoping
Project scoping
10/10/2019 11:00:00 PM
Final meeting - finalising project plan
Final meeting - finalising project plan
11/1/2019 12:00:00 AM
Final project plan submitted
Final project plan submitted
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