New Residue Flow Processing Hub Opened at Robin Food Hub

On Thursday 26 September, HALF-BAKED celebrated its grand opening at the Robin Food Hub in the Fruitpacking District at the Dutch Fresh Port. The opening was attended by several invited guests, including Alderman van der Linden.

“Globally, 1/3 of our food is lost. Such a terrible waste. We wanted to do something about that,” says Okke van Beuge (Sustainable Brewing), who founded HALF-BAKED with Lennart van den Heuvel (Fruitful Ventures). “Lennart and I met last year at a meeting for entrepreneurs here at the Robin Food Hub. A few months later, Linkebal II was on the shelves. This is a good example of how we operate as entrepreneurs: when we believe in something, we really go for it.

"At Fruitful Ventures, we deal with residuals, especially fruit, for a variety of reasons. In the past, these residual flows were mostly taken to landfills. Now we use them as much as possible to make semi-finished products. These semi-finished products are then used to make sustainable end products,” says Lennart van den Heuvel, owner of HALF-BAKED and also CEO of Fruitful Ventures. 

What remains after production is turned into compost. The compost goes to Buijtenland van Rhoon. There, it is used for environmentally friendly agriculture. This completes the circle of sustainability. 

Sustainability is not just about talk, it's about action. And making real impact by focusing on initiatives that actually make a difference. That's what energizes Lennart and Okke. 

The two entrepreneurs have set a goal for the coming year: with HALF-BAKED, they want to give a second life to 500 tons of food that would otherwise go to waste.

“By 2026, our ambition is to process 10,000 tons of rescued residual flows annually. This is not only a huge step forward in the fight against food waste, but also in the production of sustainable products such as fertilizer substitutes and compost," says Okke. 

Production line expansions are currently underway. “We are testing productions of 500 to 1,000 kilograms per day, with the ambition to eventually produce up to 6 to 8 tons per day, and even 3 to 6 tons per hour. Our collaboration with partners like beer brewer Vet & Lazy, which uses our tangerine juice in their popular radler, shows how we can combine economic profit with environmental responsibility,” Okke explains. 

On Thursday 26 September, HALF-BAKED celebrated its grand opening at the Robin Food Hub in the Fruitpacking District at the Dutch Fresh Port. At the Robin Food Hub an entrepreneurial community of creative food entrepreneurs and innovators committed to a zero-waste and plant-based food system is growing. 

For more information, please contact Loes Al, Marketing Manager Fruitful Ventures: l.al@fruitful-ventures.com.