Coles has launched a new snack food that is promoted as an “easier way” for Aussies to get their daily serving of vegetables and to reduce food waste.
Developed in partnership with CSIRO and producer Fresh Select, Nutri V Goodies use innovative technology to convert 100% Australian grown and made vegetables destined for waste or animal feed into veggie puffs snack foods.
Coles Chief Executive of Commercial and Express Leah Weckert says the retailer is proud to partner with suppliers to develop a healthier snack that will support the supermarket’s Together to Zero sustainability ambitions by repurposing more than 7200 tonnes of recovered vegetables each year.
“Coles is excited to exclusively launch Nutri V Goodies today. Not only will this partnership offer our customers a tasty and healthier snack food, [but] it [also] finds a sustainable solution for perfectly nutritious vegetables that for reasons like oversupply or damage, we couldn’t sell,” she says.
“Nutri V Goodies are an excellent example of what’s possible when working alongside our suppliers to develop an innovative idea that will reduce food waste, support farmers to become more sustainable and help Coles achieve its Together to Zero ambitions.”
CSIRO Director Agriculture & Food Dr Michael Robertson says this partnership with Fresh Select is a great example of how research and industry can work together to benefit Australia.
“Vegetable-based foods such as these can help farmers add value to their business, while reducing food waste and helping consumers increase their intake of vegetables,” he says.
“With our unique expertise and facilities in food research, we created healthy concept products and Nutri V developed an innovative scaled process to take them to market.”
Nutri V Goodies have two serves of vegetables in each pack and are said to offer a higher vegetable load than many other snack foods on the market.
Retailing for $5.50, the new product is gluten free, Australian made and vegetarian and can be found in the health food aisle of all Coles supermarkets.