Australian apple brand turns waste fruit into cider

Batlow Premium Cider is a 5.5 percent alcoholic beverage made from the apples the Batlow Apples brand deems are not good enough for the supermarket shelves.

It was around this time last year that we covered Espressogrow, an Australian initiative that was putting waste coffee granules to good use by converting them into compost, and now we’ve spotted another Australian company looking to make the most of waste produce. Farmers’ co-operative Batlow Apples has begun producing Batlow Premium Cider out of its own waste fruit. The brand has already established its eco-credentials by providing Australian grocers and supermarkets with homegrown Australian apples since 1922, and now it has launched Batlow Premium Cider, a 5.5 percent alcoholic beverage made from the apples it deems are not good enough for the supermarket shelves. The drink contains no concentrates or added sugars and is gluten free, which sets it apart from the majority of the commercial cider market. What’s more, Batlow Apples is already a well recognized brand in Australia, so producing the cider under the same name should require less marketing effort and spend than one would usually associate with the launch of a new alcoholic beverage. Batlow Apples has identified a way to not only reduce the impact of waste on its overheads, but to turn it into a new marketable product. Could your business similarly make more from its throw-aways? Spotted by: Rich Coombes