Hyvis sweet pepper and lentil soup is the winner of the Food and Beverage category in the Most Sustainable Product in Finland competition

“This is a significant recognition for us, as the development of the Hyvis sweet pepper and lentil soup tackled a concrete challenge: how to reduce sweet pepper waste that is inevitably generated to some extent in our supply chain. This prize encourages us to continue working with similar projects with even more ambitious goals,” says Janne Vuorinen, Sales and Purchasing Director at Kesko.

The Hyvis sweet pepper and lentil soup uses sweet peppers wasted at Kesko’s central warehouse that cannot be sent to stores for sale because of bruising, for example. However, they are still excellent ingredients for soups. Sweet peppers are delivered to the central warehouse from different countries of origin according to harvest seasons. The waste sweet peppers used in the Hyvis soup mainly originate from the Netherlands and Spain. By using waste sweet peppers in the soup product, not even bruised sweet peppers have been transported to Finland unnecessarily.

The soup product developed with Kasvisgalleria has been available for sale at K-food stores from March. The product line also includes the Hyvis tomato and cheese soup, which entered K-food stores in 2022 and which was also developed with Kasvisgalleria using waste tomatoes and surplus cheese.

“Our cooperation with Kesko was already productive with the Hyvis tomato and cheese soup, and we were happy to take on their new challenge to develop a product using waste sweet peppers. Thanks to skilful product development, we found a good combination that is suitable for the vegan diet. As sustainability is important for us at Juustoportti, we are extremely happy that this product won this particular competition,” says Niklas Keski-Kasari, Marketing Director at Juustoportti.

“I would like to thank Kasvisgalleria for their broad-minded cooperation with us. Making a product using an ingredient, the generation of which we primarily aim to avoid, is an unusual idea for cooperation. However, we succeeded in developing an affordable convenience food, choosing which everyone can help minimise food waste,” Vuorinen says.

The sustainability panel’s criteria emphasised the responsibility of trade and industry

The independent sustainability panel of the Most Sustainable Product in Finland competition selected the Hyvis sweet pepper and lentil soup as the winner of the Food and Beverage category especially because of its impact on reducing food waste: “Food waste is a problem that should not exist. Food production takes up significant land areas and presents challenges to diversity, which is why any food waste is not sustainable. Food waste has been a hot topic in households, while industrial food waste underlines the responsibility of trade and industry in putting a stop to this waste.”

The vegan Hyvis sweet pepper and lentil soup has been granted the Heart Symbol that indicates the product is a healthier choice within its product group: the soup contains a moderate amount of fat and a low amount of salt. The soup is made in Kuopio and has been awarded with the Key Flag that shows the product has been made in Finland.

Food waste products play a role in minimising food waste

Halving food waste by 2030 is one of the key circular economy goals of the K Group’s grocery trade division. K Group is continuously looking for new ways to develop the management and minimisation of food waste in the entire value chain, while also challenging and supporting suppliers and customers.

Food waste is primarily prevented by means of product range management as well as forecast and demand planning. Products made from ingredients that may go to waste play a role in minimising food waste, as it is challenging to prevent food waste in its entirety. Hyvis soups are made flexibly when waste ingredients are available.