Juice from wonky fruit helps reduce food waste
NATURALLY grown fruit is often discarded due to its misshapen nature, resulting in large amounts of waste.
A couple of young entrepreneurs based in Wales have set up a business that uses the unloved fruits to make tasty, healthy drinks.
Maciek Kacprzyk, 25, and Karina Sudenyte, 22, from Poland and Lithuania respectively, both attended the University of South Wales and decided to stay in Wales at the culmination of their studies to launch their natural juice business.
Their business idea was shaped by what they believe to be a growing problem of waste and inefficiency in food and drink production. Both agree that it was the nurturing entrepreneurial climate in Wales that gave them the confidence to set up shop here at such a young age.
“Karina and I have always had a bold entrepreneurial spirit and Get Wonky is the product of that.” said Maciek. “We produce a variety of juices that are exclusively made from hand-picked fruit, regardless of its shape or size. Irregularly shaped fruit does not usually conform to the high aesthetic standards food and drink providers set for the products, resulting in large amounts of waste.
“Get Wonky was born out of a desire to combat this reality.”
Launched in 2016, the company started out supplying catering events with five-litre boxes, which helped reduce waste by 70% compared to plastic bottles.
They have since started producing bottles for more than 40 venues across Wales, including KIN+ILK and Milk & Sugar, as well as the shelves of Filco supermarkets.
And the pair are grateful for the assistance they have received as they built their company.
“We’ve been helped a lot by Big Ideas Wales, part of the Welsh Government’s Business Wales Service which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund” said Maciek.
“We’ve received one-to-one support and attended several of their events, and had great media coverage as part of their campaign to encourage enterprise in Wales.
“This resulted in David Johns, of Cardiff-based fresh produce wholesalers Peter Broughton Ltd reading an article about us earlier this year and contacting us in order to collaborate. They now distribute our drinks and David supports us with his knowledge and contacts – for example, he recently pitched our products to the purchasing director of Welsh food giants Castell Howell.”
Wonky Fruit has also worked with catering company Compass Group and are close to signing a deal with “a large Welsh coffee chain”.
There is a potential deal to supply another 140 venues in south Wales and 100 university, college and staff canteens by the end of this year.
“So far we have achieved all of this without the need for outside investment, aside from an early crowdfunding campaign last year that raised £3,000. However, due to our rapid expansion we may be looking for a five-figure investment later this year, and will also be growing the Get Wonky team from two to six in September,” says Maciek.
Get Wonky has also had help from the Entrepreneurial Spark powered by NatWest programme and they are based at its hub in 1 Central Square, Cardiff.
“We’re often asked why we chose to stay in Wales after our studies rather than returning home, or why we didn’t establish Get Wonky in England,” says Maciek. “The fact is that the entrepreneurial climate here in Wales, particularly in relation to young people, is hard to match.”