This company turning unwanted fruit into healthy snacks is aiming to raise over £300k

Spare Fruit, a company specialising in sustainability, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs aiming to raise £340k.

The funding will enable them to become a huge sustainable snack brand in Europe, whilst rescuing over 5,000 tonnes of surplus produce over the next five years and raising awareness of food waste amongst 100m people in the process.

Proceeds from the campaign will enable Spare Fruit to expand its range of healthy snack products and stop more produce being wasted, whilst reaching a wider customer base.

Jamie Hartzell, chairman and founding investor, commented: ​“It’s not often I come across a business that has both the potential for growth and at the same tackles a serious social problem. But when I first tasted Spare Fruit’s apple crisps, I thought this was the one!”

With 10m tonnes of food wasted every year in the UK, Spare Fruit aims to help alleviate the huge amount of surplus produce that contributes to this vast number.

To date they have rescued over 40 tonnes of British fruit and aim to rescue a further 5,000 tonnes of produce over the next five years.

Spare fruit rescues surplus fruit that would otherwise be wasted, and transforms it into natural, healthy snacks. The company supports small British farms to prevent fruit that is said to be the wrong, shape, size colour, from being ‘picked-and-dropped’, sold at a loss or sent to landfill.

These snacks are air-dried and made with 100 per cent surplus fruit with nothing else added. The products are currently stocked in Selfridges, Planet Organic, Google, Farmdrop and many independent farm shops, delis and garden centres.

The company plans to use the investment to increase distribution nationally and across Europe.

Ben Whitehead, founder and CEO of Spare Fruit, added: ​“We are so excited to invite people to become part of our mission to prove that delicious and healthy products can be thoughtfully produced.

“The Seedrs campaign will enable us to rescue more amazing produce, raise more awareness of food waste, support more producers and enable us to become even more sustainable by investing in our production.”