Upcycling food resources for
growers, producers and manufacturers

When it comes to upcycling food, it can be hard to know where to begin. But End Food Waste Australia is here with research and resources to support your journey.

Resources backed by research

End Food Waste Australia has collaborated with QUT and the Queensland Government to investigate barriers and opportunities in the production of upcycled food. Together we’ve reviewed the literature; spoken with entrepreneurs, growers, and government; assessed regulations; and conducted a consumer study to understand perceptions, expectations and acceptance of upcycled food.

The findings have been developed into the user-friendly resources you can find on this page and the research is here as well if you feel like diving into that too.

Consumer Study

This PDF summarises key findings from the consumer study component of the Accelerating Food Transformation research project into upcycling food in Australia.

What was the Accelerating Food Transformation research project about?

Australia faces a significant challenge in managing food waste, with approximately 2.96 million tonnes of food wasted annually in primary production and manufacturing (FIAL, 2021). In response, the concept of upcycled food – transforming surplus or waste food into new, value-added products – has emerged as a promising solution.

Accelerating Food Transformation was a multi-phase research project that investigated the barriers and opportunites of food upcycling in Australia, offering insights into the regulatory, socio-technical, and consumer landscapes that shape, or may shape, the sector. Overall, the project had three key aims:

1. Advance understanding of the regulatory and socio-technical environment for upcycled food in Queensland.
2. Develop regulatory and market pathways to facilitate the upcycled food sector.
3. Provide advice to industry and government on consumer perspectives and strategies to improve acceptance of upcycled food.

To achieve these aims, the project was structured into four phases:

1. Literature review and stakeholder interviews
2. Regulatory analysis
3. Case studies; and
4. Consumer study.

Each of these phases is summarised below with links to the related reports.

Project Summary and Final Report

To view the Accelerating Food Transformation Project Summary and Final Report please select the following links.

Phase 1 – Literature Review and Interviews

Phase 1 involved a literature review and 15 semi-structured interviews to understand the challenges and barriers, as well as opportunities and enablers to upcycled food in Australia. Interviewees included growers, entrepreneurs and government representatives.

Phase 2 – Regulatory Landscape

This phase looked at how, and in what circumstances, law and policy could enable upcycled foods at state and federal levels drawing on Australian food law, international food standards and laws and policies from other jurisdictions.

Phase 3 – Case studies

This phase involved a case study analysis of five  Australian businesses engaged in food surplus and waste transformation. The purpose of Phase 3 was to capture the natural context and complexities faced by upcycled food businesses, profile examples of upcycled food businesses and gain insights into the quantity of waste that could be redirected towards upcycling. It sought to answer questions regarding how alternative markets for food waste and surplus transformation have emerged, what factors facilitated and enabled their emergence, and how can regulators and other businesses identify and facilitate future opportunities for food surplus and waste transformation.

Phase 4 – Consumer Study

The aim of Phase 4 was to provide advice to industry and to government about consumer perspectives on upcycled food products including how best to develop consumer acceptance and adoption. The research involved six focus groups with Australian consumers (n=45) to explore and develop an in-depth understanding of the factors impacting their acceptance of products created from food surplus or waste, followed by an approximately nationally representative online survey (n=2,557) to test the generalisability of the findings from the focus groups with a larger sample of Australian consumers.

The resources on this page were informed by research from the End Food Waste Australia CRC, you can find further project information on the Accelerating Food Transformation page.

References

FIAL. (2021). National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study—Final Report. https://www.fial.com.au/sharing-knowledge/food-waste

Fortune Business Insights (2025). Upcycled Food Products Market. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/upcycled-food-productsmarket-113710

Acknowledgement

The Accelerating Food Transformation project was proudly funded by the Queensland Government and End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, whose activities are funded by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Program. This work was also supported by Queensland University of Technology.