Each of them produces 100 kg of biowaste per day. UGO Saladeria. How to deal with it meaningfully? This was a challenge for seven problem-solving teams, who had 5 weeks and the support of experienced mentors to come up with their idea. And UGO really has a lot to choose from - the final of this year's Challenge Lab brought great solutions that we could smell, touch, or even taste right in the hall!
Residues from the processing of fresh juices and salads are not waste, but a resource. This was the basic premise with which the project was conceived. Challenge Lab under the banner of EIT Food took place and which builds on UGO's previous efforts. "The cooperation with the Zemanka organic bakery has worked out very well for us - we are already making biscuits and crackers from apple, carrot and beet pulp, which we sell in our salad bars, among other places. But we want to go even further," says Marek Farnik, founder of UGO and member of the Challenge Lab jury.
30 finalists and a nervous cucumber
The task given to the members of the research teams was very specific. Right from the start, the teams, spontaneously formed from students, scientists, but also economists or marketers, visited one of the establishments to get to know the logistical and other conditions directly at UGO Salaterie. At the November finale, 30 courageous ones (out of 57 originally registered) presented solutions based on numbers, new technologies and sustainability goals.
The range of solutions presented by the teams on the final evening really confused the jury. Just before the announcement, the audience was almost as tense as the pulp in a cucumber, which was played out in the hall as a unique musical intermezzo by lecturer and artist Nikol Štrobach. “The banana is working better today, the cucumber is a bit nervous,” the musician apologized to her key partners before notes began to pour out of them using synthesizers. Then came the contestants’ big moment.
The jury was impressed by the flowering balls and larvae
The winner of the evening was the Waste NoUGO team with the Ugulky project, balls made from a mixture of composted biowaste and seeds. "Ugulky represent an opportunity to give back to nature what it gives us. The balls with herb or flower seeds can be used for home growing or guerrilla gardening - they can simply be scattered around unattractive corners of the city and they will bloom there," says the team's marketing expert Michal Klukan. "Ugulky can be produced in various versions - herbal, Valentine's, meadow flower, directly in UGO factories or, for example, in sheltered workshops. After just five years, the revenue from their sales will fully cover the costs of the necessary initial processing of biowaste in an electric composter," he adds.
However, the teams were so evenly matched that the jury decided to award an unplanned special prize to the Larva project. Its members created a unique concept of larval farms, thanks to which biowaste as feed should become a source of sustainable protein through larvae. “The insect protein market in Europe is growing rapidly, and the bramble larva with which we tested the farm is exceptionally suitable for processing biowaste. It can process a thousand times its own weight in just ten days,” describes scientist and project author Jana Vašíčková.
Biowaste that you like
The projects that planned to use the pulp to produce alcohol also received a great response from the audience. "Our intention was to use biowaste to produce packaging material for tree seedlings. It turned out that the material needed to be stripped of excess sugar, and so brandy was created as a by-product," smiles Klára Stýblová from the youngest team in the competition, with an average age of 21.
Another team called IST also focused on alcohol. “The acronym stands for Ideal Sip Therapy, or sip therapy, in layman’s terms – we don’t drink, but we taste,” Martin Žampach introduced the project to produce an unusual gin made from citrus peel. In addition, the team came up with a non-alcoholic version and the production of essential oils, candle aromas and fragrance essences for cosmetics. “The acronym IST then turns into intensive sensual therapy,” adds Andrea Šustrová.
During the evening, the audience could taste apple pulp strudel or weigh dried biowaste prepared, for example, for the production of pellets.
“When we entered the project, I was a little worried about what would come out of it, but the energy and ideas from all the teams absolutely thrilled me,” Marek Farnik from UGO concludes the evaluation of several months of work on the Challenge Lab.
Challenge Lab takes place regularly, thanks to the platform EIT Food, which we represent in the Czech Republic together with the University of Chemical Technology. If you are interested in agri-food innovations, we are here for you. We would like to thank the event partners: ProVeg, Veolia, Kofola, Applifting, Cyrkl, INCIEN, Kokoza and Zachraň jídlo.
