Snact scores a delicious new win in the war on food and plastic waste

This summer Snact launched a brand-new product range
delicious food waste-fighting banana bars – where every bar stops one banana from going to waste!

Bananas are the most popular fruit in the world, but also one of the most wasted. London-based eco-startup, Snact, wanted to help stop the 1.4m bananas going to waste every day in the United Kingdom by turning them into banana bars in three flavor combinations: Apple & Cinnamon Kick, Beetroot & Cacao Blast, and Carrot & Spice Boost. Each bar is packed with fruit, vegetables, oats, and superfoods like nuts, seeds, quinoa, or coconut.

Snact makes an excellent use case for a creative and sustainable solution to food waste. It is the UK’s only snack producer actively tackling food AND plastic waste.

Compostable packaging win

Snact has found a way of making disposable dry food packaging without causing environmental damage. Like Snact’s original fruit jerky which saved 150 tonnes of apples going to waste, the new Snact banana bars are wrapped in innovative home compostable film from TIPA. Unlike traditional plastic, TIPA’s compostable packaging can be added to any ordinary compost heap or green waste collection, and will decompose completely, becoming fertilizer for the soil – just like a banana peel would.

“We definitely feel that using compostable packaging has made a difference with our target audience,” said Snact co-founder, Ilana Taub. “I can’t count the number of people who are impressed with the packaging, saying it’s such a great idea, and who say they will now buy our snacks even though they’ve been reluctant to buy things because they don’t like to create extra plastic waste. I think more and more people are waking up to our excess plastic consumption. They’re really excited to see that alternatives exist – because until now it probably hadn’t even crossed their mind.”
Compostable packaging is important to retailers as well as consumers. “With buyers as well, it’s always a selling point,” explained Ilana. “In fact, we only got stocked in one retail chain because of our compostable packaging. Once they heard that our packaging was compostable, they were sold!”


The #deliciousprotest crowdfunding campaign

As developing a new product and bringing it to the market can be expensive, Snact launched a crowdfunding campaign calling on Snactivists to join their #deliciousprotest by becoming a Banana Guerrilla. Snact more than met their target, successfully raising £11,190 with 305 supporters in 28 days.

Fellow food entrepreneurs and Snactivists have expressed strong support. “I’m bananas about Snact’s banana bars because the level of banana waste in the UK is just, well… bananas,” said Tristram Stuart, founder of Feedback and Toast Ale.

Share this story

Related articles