At the Turning Food Waste into Business Opportunity – Breakfast Seminar & Business Networking event, sponsored by InvestHK, Veolia Hong Kong, and Marriott Bonvoy on 16 June 2023, GREEN Hospitality invited the co-founders of three Hong Kong-based startups looking to turn food waste into business opportunities while helping the city achieve its carbon neutrality goal.
At the panel discussion on Food Waste as Business Opportunity, Fioni Fong, Co-founder of Not Only Powder, spoke about her startup’s work in extending the shelf-life of fruits from two weeks to one year by freeze-drying them into nutritious crisps and powder. “My mother is from Taiwan and she loves fruits. It was her stockpiling fruits in the fridge, sometimes causing the fruits to spoil, that inspired me to found Not Only Powder,” said Fioni. “We use AI technology for our quality assurance, and we work with corporates to help them achieve ESG goals. We are looking at partnerships with hospitality companies to offer our products as souvenirs and expansion to the Taiwan market in Q2 next year.”
Also setting sight on expansion is Ways Out Hong Kong, which hires women in underprivileged communities to upcycle food waste into jewellery. “After I graduated from university in 2016, I volunteered on a small farm in South Korea for three months. It was there that I learnt that South Koreans would spend two to three hours every week to sort food waste and turn it into soil fertilisers. I decided that I wanted to do something to drive mindset and behavioural change in Hong Kong, and that’s how I co-founded Ways Out Hong Kong with a friend,” said Peggy Lam.
Also present at the panel was Kelvin Wong, COO of Ergotek, which upcycles all kinds of pre- and post-dining food waste, including bones and shells that are typically not accepted by facilities in Hong Kong. The upcycled output includes pet food, soil fertilisers, and sustainable construction materials produced by Kelvin’s other company, BSF Innovation Limited. “In the past year and a half, we have been researching the ideal conditions for our black soldier fly farms,” said Kelvin. “Black soldier flies are crucial to the upcycling of food waste into high-protein animal feed and our overall mission to facilitate decarbonisation and transition towards a circular economy in Hong Kong.”
If you would like to support these startups, whether as an impact investor, private or institutional funder, or volunteer, visit their websites to learn more about their work and how you can get invovled.
Stay tuned to our next blog post on GREEN Hospitality’s upcoming launch of the Greater Bay Area x Hong Kong Sustainable Hospitality Roadmap and find out how you can be a sustainability leader in the hospitality industry!
*The Food Waste to Good Taste project and culminating event would not have been possible without the support of our partners:
HKU School of Biological Science
The Hong Kong Chef Association
Invest Hong Kong
Veolia Hong Kong
Conscious Chocolate
Mindful Spirit
CHOMP
Not Only Powder
Ergotek
Ways Out Hong Kong
FurryGreen
Breer
The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP)
The Nature Conservancy
Marriott Bonvoy
Rosewood Hong Kong
The Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton
W Hong Kong
Rooftop Republic
PizzaExpress
Café Renaissance
Hugo’s
Sha Tin 18
TREEHOUSE!
SUPACITY