From waste to zero waste

ALARA WholeFoods, an exhibitor at Gulfood this year, is known as the first food manufacturer in the world to achieve zero waste.

Launched in 1975 with practically two Sterling pounds found in a gutter, the UK-based company grew with the owners’ desire to understand food better. By 1983, Alara was all set to become one of the first manufacturers in the UK to offer organic muesli.

Having experienced living off discarded but edible fruits and vegetables in the market (a reason so much food is wasted especially in the West) Mr Smith, a recent speaker at the World Food Summit event at Gulfood highlighted how the future of food will continue to be threatened by multiple factors, but most of all from unsustainable forms of agriculture that are degrading soil, water and biological diversity – all problems which will worsen with climatic change.

Alex Smith, founder of  Alara WholeFoods

In your opinion, which is the biggest food crisis factor facing the globe today?

The two biggest food crisis factors are (1) obesity, and how we all address this issue and (2) climate change. The food supply chain emits about 35% of all climate change gases if N2O and deforestation are included, by far the biggest emitter. Food growing is also the most susceptible sector to changes in weather so this needs to be tackled.

There are a lot of things that can be done all of which center on appreciating food more and understanding that food is more important than money.

You mentioned obesity as a crisis. Alara products are far from contributing to this crisis.

Our brand promise is that we do not add any sugar or salt to any Alara product so I would say all our products are healthy. We have recently, following the submission of a 100-page dossier, been advised that yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) has been removed from the novel foods list. We are now experimenting with this both in food products and also growing it as it has the highest level of FOS of any plant.

Among the almost 200 varieties we now produce are Fair Trade muesli, Nut free muesli, Gluten free muesli and from 1999 the Alara brand Organic muesli range.

With products like muesli with yacon, Alara has successfully entered the organic market

Please tell us about the Alara Dream Farm. What purpose does it serve the company?

Alara Dream farm really was not directly linked to how the company started but from a desire to understand food better and to recognize what a miracle it is that you can have a fruit tree and it provides fruit for you every year or you plant a seed and food grows. It is also to understand better the work required to grow food so to appreciate it more. When we then took over a new factory with waste land round it we removed about 50 tons of rubbish and planted a Permaculture Forest garden followed by a vineyard, an apricot orchard and two additional orchards all at King’s Cross. The vision is that the next stage in the development of society is the integration of agriculture, manufacturing and informatics and that is a model we are building here.

Do you use locally source ingredients and raw materials?

The largest ingredient we use is organic oats and we buy a lot of these from a specific farm called Pertwood in Wiltshire. This year we will buy approximately 600 tons of grain from this farm where humans have been farming since the Palaeolithic era. We also buy organic gluten free oats from a farm and mill in Scotland. These are the last kiln stabilized oats in the world which increases the nutrients and are also milled in the last water powered oat mill in the world.

Other ingredients we buy from around the world and I was in the high Andes recently looking at both the maca crop and also the yacon crop there. Altogether we use about 240 different ingredients in stock and have a great team working to source them.

Another organic product from Alara is an alternative sweetener and prebiotic

Is Alara’s product range all organic?

Alara was the very first cereal company in the world to make certified organic cereals and almost all of our product range is organic, the only exceptions are some Gluten Free cereals and one Fairtrade product. All the Of the Earth Superfood range is organic.

How do you add value and quality to the entire production chain?

The organic supply chain is the only supply chain that, by law, has to be inspected at each stage of its journey so has an inbuilt integrity. Recent research also shows that levels of antioxidants are higher in organic food and that it is more climate-friendly. We also now have a financial sustainability measure of COD so we now pay suppliers as soon as the ingredient quality has been approved.

Which markets are of interest to you?

Globally, organic food sales are growing at 10% per annum so many of our export markets are doing well. We recently exhibited at Biofach in Germany where we met many of our European customers and also at Gulfood where our sales have increased by over 100% in the last year. In March we exhibited at Foodex in Japan, again where our sales are doing well. China with the new organic regulations and the US with the very layered supply chains are not of interest to us at the moment.

What are Alara’s strengths as a muesli producer? And as a company?

We have many great strengths, however two around production are first, we make really healthy cereals by including very innovative ingredients such as yacon. This means we can make muesli that tastes great and avoid relying on fat sugar and salt for that taste.

The other is that we are a long tail manufacturer which means that we have set up our production systems to make short runs of product very efficiently. This customization is epitomized by our online system where customers can order just 1 kg of bespoke muesli from us which we will produce, pack and dispatch.

Our greatest strengths are the fantastic team we have working here and the foundations upon which we are built.

Are there plans to introduce new products and/or expand?

Having spent three years of research getting yacon off the novel foods list, we are developing a range of products that feature this ingredient. As yacon is the crop with the highest level of Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) which is a unique sugar that tastes sweet but is not absorbed by the gut, we think that this is a great new basis for NPD.

We are planning a two stage expansion at present and are also focused on our mission “The Most Sustainable Food Manufacturer on Earth.”

We are seeing great growth in the MENA region both the Middle East and also developing sales in Egypt and the possibility of a joint venture in the area has crossed my mind.

The concept of “Eat Well” is in sync with Alara’s philosophy.

The Eat Well concept is in sync with Alara as that is what we have been providing for 40 years.

Finally, what would be an important environmental tip?

Alara is the first food manufacturer in the world to be zero waste so a good tip is getting all the team involved and seeing value in what was once considered waste.