A social enterprise with a sustainable solution for food waste, Rescued, has been awarded $50,000 for winning the inaugural Brand For Good competition.

The competition is run by creative studio, Tomorrow, founded by winners of the first season of ‘The Block NZ’.

Founded by Diane Stanbra and Royce Bold, Rescued is a pioneer in creating a sustainable food future by taking commonly wasted items like leftover bread and making it into Rescued Bread Flour.

This sustainable alternative took the win for their innovative techniques in repurposing surplus food.

Other products include repurposed surplus fruits, vegetables and unique ingredients such as spent juniper berries from gin production, to create products that combine great taste with zero waste.

Stanbra and Bold say they created this solution to tackle the 570,000 tonnes of food that are wasted each year in New Zealand.

“The upcycled food industry is worth $57 billion in the US, which has phenomenal growth and awareness. But we’re nowhere near that in New Zealand,” says Stanbra.

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“Being chosen as the Brand For Good winner is an incredible opportunity, allowing us to see how we can evolve our own circular food economy.”

Rescued have won a prize of $50,000 from the Brand For Good competition, which will be used towards comprehensive packaging, expertise in brand strategy, design, and digital development with help from Tomorrow.

Through this, Rescued will be able to maximise their impact and broader mission.

“This incredible opportunity takes us a huge step closer to solving the food waste issue. It’s a start-up’s dream and gives us the best possible start,” adds Stanbra.

“We need to have a strong brand that people trust because consumer support is fundamental Winning the Brand For Good Competition will help amplify our impact and achieve our vision.”

Judges included Ben Crawford, Co-Founder of Tomorrow, Toss Grumley, Business Growth Adviser at Wolf + Fox, and entrepreneur Brianne West, who ultimately chose Rescued for their “rethinking our food system” to tackle the food waste problem.

They say Rescued’s solution is “clever in its simplicity and ease of understanding” and has huge potential to make significant impact both in New Zealand and globally.