Freezing strawberries to prevent food waste caused by the coronavirus pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic is causing some organizations to face problems of excess food due to the sudden demand drop. Therefore, food waste is becoming a major concern. A Japanese company is helping reduce food waste caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus by turning fresh strawberries into frozen fruit treats.

DayBreak is using its specialized rapid freezing technique on strawberries from the Nagano Berry Farm, where the number of visitors for berry picking has dropped due to concern over the spread of the new coronavirus.

In the first stage of what it is calling a COVID-19 emergency assistance project, DayBreak has bought excess strawberries from the farm, frozen them and is selling them via e-commerce sites like Amazon under its HenoHeno brand. It will give part of the profit from those sales back to the farm.

Ongoing assistance from DayBreak

In its first purchase from Nagano Berry Farm, DayBreak bought a total of 42 kilograms of three varieties of strawberries. It has been selling the frozen strawberries online since March 27.

DayBreak will continue to buy and sell the farm’s berries and plans to expand the project to include fruit and vegetables from other producers, too.

Even before it started the new project, DayBreak was reducing food loss by selling fruits under the HenoHeno brand. The fruits were irregularly shaped and was previously being thrown away. For produce sold under its coronavirus assistance project this time, the packets have been labelled with the words ‘Emergency Assistance Pack’. It explains the goal of preventing food loss caused by COVID-19 concerns.

HenoHeno fruit has no additives and the company’s specialized freezing technology gives it a unique texture as a frozen treat.

A ready solution even in the midst of crises

A month-long state of emergency was established last week in seven regions, including the greater Tokyo area. Government leaders have asked residents in those areas, and others, to restrict their travel and outdoor activities. Nagano is about a three-hour drive from Tokyo.

Japan’s first case of domestic transmission of the new coronavirus was announced in late January. DayBreak was able to get its emergency assistance project running quickly because it already had the system in place. It already understood that the world doesn’t operate as we would like it too – that ‘imperfect’ strawberries grow, too.