Fruitful progress

Upcycling imperfect yet tasty fruit is a great way to help fight food waste.

When the team behind Queenstown fruit technology company LILO Desserts witnessed the amount of fruit wasted in NZ for being too small, misshapen or under-ripe, they saw an opportunity to reimagine the food system, embarking on a mission to “get fruit tasted not wasted”. NZ fruit is sought after in the global market; however, much of export demands ‘perfect’ fruit – meaning no blemishes – so a lot of it goes to waste. “Last season over 1000 tonnes of Central Otago cherries went unharvested,” says LILO Desserts co-founder Cleo Gilmour. “Labour shortages and increasing weather events are putting orchardists under huge amounts of pressure – and this is just getting the fruit off the tree!” LILO’s solution is to upcycle these ‘imperfect’ yet perfectly flavoursome and nutritious fruits into tasty snacks and desserts. The LILO Dried Fruit Party Mix is made up of apricots from Central Otago, Nelson apples, blueberries from the Waikato and golden kiwifruit from the Bay of Plenty. The name LILO, meaning ‘Last In Last Out’ embodies their belief it’s this generation’s responsibility to improve the food systems for the next. “We’re in a position where we can harness science and technology to shape a better food future.”