Useful waste: KosmodeHealth aims to take its food tech across Asia to combat diabetes in the region

KosmodeHealth enables manufacturers to transform food waste into nutrients, a sustainable solution for tackling diabetes in Singapore.

“KosmodeHealth does not produce final products. We are a B2B enabler. We have set up a pilot scale for the extraction of spent barley grains not because it will give us a lot of scale, but because we want to create a blueprint to show that it is possible to repurpose food processing waste. Our goal is to take this blueprint to areas where there is a lot more processing waste and a greater need for sustainable solutions,”​ said Florence Leong, co-founder of KosmodeHealth. She was speaking at our Growth Asia Summit 2024 held in Singapore from 16 to 18 July.

Apart from Nestle, KosmodeHealth gets their material from Prima, who supplies the firm with wheat bran, a by-product of flour mill, and Malayan Flour Mill Berhad for R&D. It is able to customise the pre-mix for manufacturers to reproduce at scale.

The objective is to provide a source of affordable nutrients for the ageing population without the glycemic load that is associated with Asian staples, which are traditionally loaded with starch.

“Regarding the regions we are interested in, we are currently looking at Asia, where diabetes is a health issue. And if you look at the diabetic food market, 80 to 90% of the products are Western-centric. They are developed by Westerners and do not cater to the taste and textural preferences of the Asian palate. That's why I'm focusing on Asian food. Besides, rice and noodles contribute significantly to diabetes and make disease management a challenge,”​ said Leong.

In 2021, the firm successfully transformed spent barley grains to W0W noodles​, a high-fibre Asian staple that is diabetic-friendly.

“W0W noodles are meant to inspire manufacturers who want to upcycle food processing by-products into something nutritious. They can buy the pre-mix from us and produce it straightaway. Our pre-mix is as clean as possible, without any additives or preservatives. One of the most common questions I get is, can we make this last longer? We accept customisation requests as long as they are not harmful to human health or the environment.​

“KosmodeHealth adopts a B2B business model – we customise products for other brands. Our mission make natural nutrition accessible and affordable. If only one company is selling it, the price will never go down due to lack of competition. I want the W0W brand to set the standard and keep evolving. Other companies can look at W0W and decide they want something similar. They can buy the exact same pre-mix and put it under their own brand. With many brands competing, prices will go down. That's why we choose to be an enabler rather than selling a single, final product,”​ said Leong.

Potential clients in China have expressed interest in KosmodeHealth’s technology, leading Leong to believe that the Chinese market holds significant potential due to its status as a major food manufacturing hub and the openness of its people to new technology.

“Opportunities are everywhere, not just in China. But of course, China is a major food manufacturing hub, and there’s a demand for decently priced food staples in its domestic market. Our goal is to enable food processing companies to use waste to create low-cost, decent products for their people. It's all about economies of scale,” ​said Leong.

Overcoming challenges​

However, significant time and resources are required to process waste into food-grade products.

“When handling food processing by-products, you cannot be transporting this waste over long distances, it’s not sustainable. Additionally, there is the problem of degradation. It’s not an issue if the waste is going to be used as animal feed, but because we’re processing it for human consumption, the waste must be processed very quickly before degradation occurs, especially for wet materials like brewers’ spent grains. We have a potential client in China who is investing in a new factory set-up for this purpose, and they are looking at working with us,”​ said Leong.

A major obstacle that’s preventing large-scale adoption of upcycling food waste is the mindset among people.

“Because everyone is talking about alternative proteins, it is unsexy to be dealing with food waste. It’s a herd mentality,” said​ Leong, who feels that governments can do more to promote valorisation of food wastes and by-products.

“Around 1.3 billion tons of waste is dumped into landfills, including more than 200 million tons of food processing waste. Considering the protein and fibre content of this waste, I’m sure you’ll agree that calling it waste is a misnomer. These wastes are gems, concentrated with more protein and fibre than the whole and spent grains you buy from the supermarket,” ​said Leong, quoting statistics from Earth.org and referring to research studies that confirmed the high protein and fibre content of brewers spent grain.

“To address food security needs, many are turning to alternative proteins. But I feel that staple foods are more relevant in this case. Why can’t we do things differently instead of chasing technology for alternative proteins like the rest of the world? We can start by looking at a different source to address our needs. Sometimes, the solution is very simple,”​ said Leong, alluding to the rich, natural sources of unused food processing by-products that are usually discarded.

The firm wants to extend its upcycling technology to other types of food for variety, and rice is one of them. The challenge lies in forming individual grains of rice without starch. Traditional extrusion machines are typically designed to process materials that contain starch, as starch plays a critical role in the extrusion process. The issues with using traditional extrusion machines for making rice without starch include issues with taste and texture, as well as binding and structural integrity of the rice grains.

Another project that the firm is working on is the making of dry noodles without starch.

“W0W noodles are fresh, and we’re trying to make a dry version for variety. You can rehydrate traditional dry noodles easily because there’s starch. But W0W doesn’t contain starch, and the re-hydration part is the challenge,”​ said Leong.

Other prototypes that the firm is exploring include cookies; bread with half the usual amount of carbs; and a hazelnut spread with four times less carbs, twice the protein, and twice the fibre compared to commercial ones.