The Netherlands is the world's second-largest avocado importer, reports the CBS. "Many of those are ripened into ready-to-eat fruits, but that process results in a small percentage of rejects," says Refruit's Jan Kraayeveld. In January, this Dutch company began processing these excess avocados into high-quality avocado oil destined for consumers.
Jan sees corporate social responsibility, and especially circularity and preventing food waste, becoming increasingly important for retailers. "We complete the circle together. We genuinely ensure not a single kilo is lost. The end goal is to work with importers and service providers to get the rejected avocados intended for supermarkets, there anyway, but as avocado oil. We create a high-quality product from residual streams."
Through Refruit, Jan Kraaijeveld processes surplus avocados into high-quality avocado oil.
Zero waste
Refruit uses two supply streams as raw materials for the avocado oil. It collaborates with partners such as ripeners who have waste and it uses containers of avocados occasionally rejected due to, say, quality problems or MRL violations. The byproducts of processing the avocados into oil, in turn, go to animal fodder or biogas. When the avocados arrive in their original cardboard and plastic packaging, that, too, is reprocessed. "At the end of the process, there's no waste. We recycle the whole chain from front to back," explains Jan.
Healthy and made from residual streams
The avocados’ condition is not essential to obtaining its oil; its ripeness is, though. "We can use anything, but the fruit shouldn't be too hard. That's why we sometimes let it continue to ripen in the cells before producing the oil." While avocado oil is still a relatively unknown product in the Netherlands, in the U.S., it has become popular because of its health benefits and high smoking point. "It's both a healthy product and made from a byproduct. That makes the product interesting to retailers," says Kraayeveld.
By processing rejected avocados, Refruit wants to unburden its suppliers fully. "Fast pickup and payment are the easiest." That means working with customers to see what works for them. "We try to partner with the suppliers and see what works best to ensure their waste causes them as few headaches as possible."
High quality
Despite its newness, Refruit is focused on expansion. To that end, it is looking at other products with waste streams suitable for making high-value products. For Jan, high quality is key here. "Processing the residual stream into a product must cost less than the final product's selling price," he concludes.
For more information:
Jan Kraayeveld 
Refruit
Handelsweg 190
2988 DC Ridderkerk
Tel.: +31 (0)6 22 56 80 08
[email protected]
