The East Gippsland Food Cluster is looking into the feasibility of a processing plant to create value-added products like pastes, powders and vitamins from waste vegetables. Food Cluster Chairman Andrew Bulmer said the application would be great for farmers who have to throw out anything unsuitable for supermarkets that only want unblemished produce.
"Vegetable waste is a national issue. Supermarkets want the perfect produce, but we grow veggies outside under the influence of Mother Nature," Bulmer said.
He also said that events such as hail storms meant farmers lost about 20 percent of their crop each season. He believes this sort of innovation could see farmers get 100 percent harvest out of a crop by providing another avenue to market.
"Farmers will have the opportunity to break even. This is critical in regional economies and 50 percent of Gippsland's economy is driven from agriculture."
Latrobevalleyexpress.com.au quoted Bulmer as saying that the Food Cluster had been working with Horticulture Innovation Australia and CSIRO. Allegedly, vitamin company Swisse is also keen to jump on board to source locally-produced vegetables for its health range.
"This will be a real opportunity and looking at real technology, and it will be a game-changer if we get it up in the region. We want this opportunity to be across the whole of Gippsland."
