UK agri-food tech company Elemental has signed a first licensing deal for its patented food processing technology, which it says can recover up to 15% more human-edible food products for every meat carcase processed.
The business has partnered with Irish red meat giant Dawn Meats and its Dunbia subsidiary to roll out the tech, which works by recovering food extracts in the form of high-quality proteins and fats that would otherwise be lost from the human food chain.
The recovered ingredients are then used in a variety of products including ready meals, gravy and soup.
Elemental said the process – which supplements existing operations to recover food extracts – had the potential to leave zero waste and helped prevent sending product to landfill.
And in addition to being fully traceable, the tech also had the advantage of reducing related emissions from transport, it added.
Niall Browne, CEO of Dawn Meats and Dunbia, said the technology would “assist us in the capture of valuable food-grade ingredients”.
“The resulting yield improvement is the meat equivalent of 30-40kg per carcase, adding value across the supply chain,” he said.
“The installation of this new technology is also expected to deliver 20% of our annual Scope 1 reduction target, helping us to achieve an ambitious 58% overall reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.”
Elemental CEO Dean Hislop described the deal with Dawn Meats and Dunbia – which works in 50 countries and processes 300,000 tonnes of meat each year – as a “significant moment”.
“We have ambitious plans for sustained growth and helping to drive innovation in the meat industry,” he said. “This agreement represents a major step forward in delivering on those plans.
“Dawn Meats and Dunbia are one of the leading global players in our industry and it’s no surprise to see them taking this lead in terms of making their processes more efficient and more environmentally sustainable.
“This agreement enables Dawn Meats and Dunbia to create new products and unlock new revenue streams while also reducing their carbon footprint and improving carcase utilisation.”
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