Company reinforces the importance of sustainable practices and food waste issues.
World Bread Day, an event aimed at bringing awareness to bread and food waste, was celebrated on Oct. 16 across the world. It was started 10 years ago by the International Union of Bakers and Bakers-Confectioners and has since been taken over by a German food blogger.
Eat the Ball, a premium bread company making its way into U.S. supermarkets and foodservice operators, took a stand to support World Bread Day in order to reinforce the importance of sustainability and feeding future generations here and abroad.
Why is World Bread Day important? Bread is one of the most wasted types of food in the household. In fact, roughly one-third of purchased bread is thrown away. The main reason for this is due to the constant availability of fresh bread at any time being at odds with the ever shorter shelf life of a product that is manufactured at a low price.
To bring awareness to this issue and initiate change, Eat the Ball has taken a stand to support efficiency and sustainability, which the company believes will become hot topics in the food industry over the next few decades. One of the most promising strategies to secure the food supply for future generations is to implement technologies and production processes that help reduce food loss and waste globally, the company said.
Food waste is a growing issue. According to The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization (
FAO), approximately one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year is lost or wasted. This equates to about 1.3 billion tons and sadly, this amount is enough to feed two billion people.
According to "The Great Balancing Act" published by the World Resources Institute, reducing global current food loss and waste by one-half by the year 2050 would mean that we would need 1.314 trillion fewer calories than if we continued with our current approach to food. These savings would close roughly 22% of the gap between today's availability of food and the demand in the year 2050.
Freezing is one of the most natural and important technologies for enhancing food security and maintaining the freshness and nutritional value of food. Freezing is merely allowing mother nature to press the pause button. Eat the Ball’s manufacturing and distribution model is set up to help prevent food waste and to help bring awareness to the major issues surrounding it.
The company’s patented technology process, called pro.ferment.iced helps the product maintain a longer shelf life without any preservatives and keeps all of the healthy ingredients intact. The bread is not baked in a classic way, instead it goes through a special fermentation process, at a very low temperature. Flash frozen after production, the product keeps its quality for up to one and a half years and can even be refrozen after defrosting.
“The meaningfulness of this technology and brand lies in its ability to offer a valuable, healthy food product to our consumers, on account of the naturalness of the products, while at the same time contributing to the reduction of shocking daily waste of bread globally, thanks to its long shelf-life,” said Joe Carter, managing director of Eat the Ball.
The Eat the Ball product line is available locally in markets such as Seattle. Additional markets and retailers are expected to be added to the company’s expansion in 2017.
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