Enactus Okanagan College

If you looked on the grounds of orchards across the Okanagan Valley, you’d likely find unwanted apples left to rot simply because they don’t meet the vanity standards of grocery stores. This is far from an isolated problem, as there are an estimated half a billion apples that go to waste in Canada ever year. All this waste, and yet 5.8 million Canadians struggle to put food on the table.

The team at Enactus Okanagan College saw an opportunity to not only address food insecurity in their community but also prevent thousands of pounds of apples from going to waste.

The solution? Apple chips!

With the help of a local non-profit, Enactus Okanagan’s Unusually Good Food Company uses an innovative process to dehydrate perfectly edible apples and turn them into healthy apple chips. These apple chips are then donated to breakfast and lunch programs at local schools, food banks in the Okanagan community, and internationally, to countries like Ukraine and North Korea.

The team innovated even further by once again using the same beautiful, imperfect apples to produce a high-quality juice with an extended shelf life. By creating a new revenue stream with their juice, they’re able to pay farmers for the apples that would have otherwise gone to waste, giving back to their community.

2022

22,658 Individuals Impacted

$18,255 Revenue Generated

13,049,840 Litres of Water Saved

155,910 lbs. of C02 Avoided

38,000 Apple Chip Servings Donated

Are you or your company interested in tackling food waste? Contact partnerships@enactus.ca to learn more.