The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has announced that over 160 food products designed as part of its Big Food Redesign Challenge are closer to reaching supermarket shelves, as the Challenge enters its second stage.

The Challenge, which was launched in 2023 by the Foundation in partnership with the Sustainable Food Trust, tasked participants to design new products – or redesign existing ones – using circular economy principles which help “nature to thrive and address climate change”.

Out of 400 applicants from around the world, a total of 71 organisations were invited into the Production Phase of the Challenge. Now, the Foundation has said it is calling on retailers to join UK supermarket Waitrose and retail group Grupo Carrefour Brasil in showcasing the successful food products.

Product concepts put forward by a range of companies include pasta made from wrinkled peas, a snack using banana peel and both cookies and juice produced from cacti. Other concepts involve using milk from regenerative farming agriculture practices and making jerky from mushrooms.

The Foundation said that the involved companies range from start-ups to household names, including Danone, Nestlé, The Seaweed Company, Fortnum & Mason and Café Direct.

Beth Mander, food programme manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said: “Our current food system is a key driver of biodiversity loss and accounts for a third of global greenhouse gases. We can, and must, redesign our food to regenerate nature and tackle some of the most pressing global issues facing us today. 

“It’s encouraging to see such a huge appetite by businesses to rise to the challenge of helping to reshape how we design food for the future. With such an innovative range of product ideas, we hope they will become everyday items on shopping lists.

“This is an exciting time for more retailers to get involved and be among the first in the world to offer their customers unique access to food choices which help preserve and restore our planet for future generations.”