Salt & Straw Helps Reduce Food Waste With New Upcycled Ice Cream Collection

Any brand that’s introduced the world to ice cream flavors like Pear & Blue Cheese and Arbequina Olive Oil has to be considered a pioneer. Portland-based Salt & Straw has been shaking up the industry with their unique combinations for more than a decade and they’re now pioneering a mouthwatering new project that addresses one of the biggest issues of our time: food waste.

Their June menu marks the launch of Salt & Straw’s Upcycled Food Series, with five special flavors that are not only totally surprising and decadent but help to make a real impact on the amount of food wasted in the United States.

According to the Upcycled Food Association (UFA), about 229 million tons of food goes unsold or uneaten globally each year. Contrary to popular belief, that’s not all spoiled food—the vast majority of this waste is made up of surplus, edible ingredients that could help reduce hunger in our most vulnerable populations but get tossed because of lack of storage space, lack of distribution chains, and passing food fads.

“The fact that we waste so much of our food in the United States while there are families and children not getting the food they need is an awful reality and something that all of us in the food industry need to focus on changing,” says Salt & Straw co-founder and Head Ice Cream Innovator, Tyler Malek. “We’re using this menu as a platform to talk about this issue and start showing creative and delicious ways to combat this problem. I had the opportunity to work alongside five incredible organizations and companies who are making a significant impact in their communities. We rescued 38,000 pounds of food and turned it into ice cream flavors that are officially Upcycled Certified® by the UFA.”

The Upcycled Food Series features five flavors:

Malted Chocolate Barley Milk (V): in collaboration with Evergrain, the company that is upcycling barley. Chocolate barley milk and candied fig ice cream is infused with upcycled malted barley milk, a protein packed ingredient that uses “saved grain” from the beer production process. Notably, this is also Salt & Straw’s first ever allergen-free ice cream that’s not a sorbet.

Day-Old Bread Pudding & Chocolate Ganache: In collaboration with Urban Gleaners, the Portland-based nonprofit that redistributes food from high-end restaurants and grocery stores to schools and agencies working to end hunger. The custard bread pudding ice cream is layered with housemade chocolate ganache. For this flavor, Salt & Straw and Urban Gleaners gathered bread from around Portland that would otherwise have gone to waste.

Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato: In collaboration with Blue Stripes, the cacao brand founded by famed chocolatier Oded Brenner. The cacao gelato, which is made using the whole pod — including the shell and pulp — is striped with ribbons of dark chocolate stracciatella.

Lemon Curd & Whey: In collaboration with The Spare Food Co., the culinary innovation company co-founded by socially conscious, sustainably-minded brothers, chef Adam Kaye (former Culinary Director at Blue Hill) and Jeremy Kaye (formerly of Patagonia and Nike), whose mission is to create products that aim to fix the broken system that views overlooked ingredients as food waste, versus what they really are: wasted food. The tart, tangy gelato is infused with The Spare Food Co.’s upcycled, whey based, chef-crafted, climate-friendly, probiotic, sparkling Lemon & Ginger Spare Tonic.

Salted Caramel & Okara Cupcakes (V): in collaboration with Renewal Mill, the upcycled food company that turns nutritious byproducts from food manufacturing into superfood ingredients and premium, plant-based desserts. The flavor features a salted coconut oat milk ice cream base studded with bits of dark chocolate cupcakes and is frosted with vegan caramel. It features okara flour, a flour made from the pulp leftover when making soy milk.

The Upcycled Food Series will be available throughout the month of June in Salt & Straw scoop shops and via nationwide shipping.