Rubies in the Rubble
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Ben & Jerry's: Join Our Core & Scoop For Change competition.
Every year millions of tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables are discarded as part of a culture of excessive waste.
As lovers of good food, we couldn’t stomach that and in a response, ‘Rubies in the Rubble’ was born.
Our aim is to make the tastiest chutney and the fruitiest jam in the nicest possible way at the same time as addressing social issues of unemployment, social exclusion and waste.
We believe the more you put in, the more you get out.
We make everything by hand, we are generous with ingredients and we’re committed to our community.
We source all our fruit and vegetables from surplus, fresh from the market before they’re discarded.
But we don’t just stop at our ingredients, we also care about who makes our products.
We recruit people who are struggling to get back into work, investing time and talent so they can be connoisseurs too.
Our dream is to have kitchens across the UK, Europe and the Western world- all dedicated to finding Rubies in the Rubble and making the finest of products from the surplus!
To make any an impact we need to sell a lot of chutney in every loving food outlet across the land… to be known as the Ben and Jerry’s of the chutney world!
We would love a little of your help, advice and guidance to get us on our way.
The more you put in, the more you get out
Rubies in the Rubble
Go on, have abig dollop!
About You
Background Information
First Name
Jenny
Last Name
Dawson
Twitter URL
RubiesinRubble
Facebook URL
The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you
Yes.
Country of residence of entrepreneur
UK
Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?
The idea for ‘Rubies in the Rubble’ was born after an early morning visit to New Covent Garden Market in November 2010 (before my working day) where I witnessed the mass of surplus fruit and vegetables being thrown away and knew they could be put to good use.
Making chutneys and jams were almost second nature to me. I grew up on a farm in Scotland where any abundance of fruit or vegetables were often thrown on the boil to avoid wastage.
At the time I was also volunteering with disadvantage individuals in London who often struggled to get back into employment... So the two came together very naturally.
Prior to this, I set up a Caviar distribution business while studying abroad in Hong Kong and after university worked for two and a half years in a hedge-fund.
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Rubies in the Rubble
Organization Website
Organization Country
United Kingdom, LND, London
Country where this project is creating social impact
United Kingdom, LND, London
Is your organization a
For‐profit
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Innovation
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
It is estimated 60% of the 16 bn tonnes of food & drink wasted could be prevented. We are an innovative answer to food waste prevention, founded on the traditions of preserving! We are targeting food waste at wholesale market-level. The traders market we currently go to has 12-13,000 tonnes of waste each year.
But we don't stop at food waste, we also care about our local community & providing work to long term unemployed.
Where we are based in East London, the borough of Tower Hamlets has the highest unemployment rate (c. 13%) in the country since 2005 (close to twice the London average of 7.6%) and women are hit worst. We believe that through the production of our food range we can provide training and employment which will help break the cycle of unemployment and social exclusion.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
Our solution prevents fruit & vegetable from otherwise being wasted at wholesale markets in London & reduce carbon.
The traditional home answer to any excess of fruits and vegetables is to pickle or preserve. We have taken this to another level. We are currently in the process of building a kitchen on site at London's New Spitalfields Market– enabling us to be timely customers for any unsold fruit and veg. Here we will produce our unique food brand and questioning societies perspective of what is waste, with the name 'Rubies in the Rubble'.
We also work with long-term unemployed women, supporting them back into employment. We believe that the production of preserves allows for a nurturing working environment that can either provide a stepping-stone to a career in the food industry or simply build up confidence in the workplace.
Our longterm vision is to replicate this model, with franchises of Rubies in the Rubble kitchens on all wholesale markets across the UK and beyond!
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
A typical day at Rubies in the Rubble begins with a trip to the market at the crack of dawn to collect surplus at the end of the overnight market's trade. Over the last year we have built up relationships with the traders, all of whom have to pay to discard their fruit and vegetables if they aren't sold. They appreciate our aim to prevent this outcome and are willing to work with us if they have the surplus. The odd-shaped, ripe fruit and vegetables that may be undesirable to supermarkets or restaurant owners are perfect for making into chutney and jam.
We then prep the fruit and vegetables ready to boil up later that day. The work is not too demanding which allows us to build a safe space for vulnerable adults and build their confidence in the work place. We aim to foster a supportive working environment where everyone is driven by the common aim to prevent as much fruit and vegetables from the market of being wasted.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Larger food brands and in-house supermarket preserve ranges have a competitive advantage on price and brand but do not offer the same ethics or great taste!
We have identified preserve ranges which are using gluts of fruit and vegetables from farms or areas of production for other foodstuffs, but none focused solely on using up food surplus at wholesale market-level. None focus on using the process of production as a tool to help vulnerable adults re-enter the work place.
Charities committed to helping vulnerable adults back into employment are excited to refer clients to us. Currently we work with Crisis, a UK nationwide homeless charity. We aim to partner with a charity that provides a holistic support programme for vulnerable adults looking for work.
Select the stage that best applies to your business
Operating for 1-5 years
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?
Government reports indicate a gap in innovative sustainable business solutions: to address the vaste scale of food waste (WRAP) and growing unemployment rates. On average 250 tonnes of fruit & vegetables are thrown away each week at just one of London's wholesale fruit & veg markets.
Having a kitchen on site at the wholesale market is key to using as much surplus as possible since often our access to fruit and veg is a matter of timing, which is unpredictable. Our premises will enable traders to easily bypass the dump and come to us instead with their unavoidable surplus (due to ill matched demand and supply).
The more surplus we can access, the more chutney we can make & jobs we can offer. We hope to sustain more livelihoods driven by a common desire to limit fruit and veg waste.
Sustainability
How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?
Our business model is a triple bottom line solution to two fundamental problems of our age: food waste and unemployment.
We will achieve financial sustainability by: increasing product sales, which are projected to significantly grow once we move into our own kitchen (this summer); establishing strong relationships with new retails outlets who will stock our range of products; developing partnerships with suppliers of all ingredients, to negotiate affordable supply: harnessing the energy of our supporters who are keen to volunteer their time and efforts in getting this venture off the ground - seeding the start of what we believe will be a great, trusted, first class brand.
We will achieve social sustainability by: partnering with like-minded community organizations in our Borough, Tower Hamlets; developing our training program in consultation with local charities who specialize in rehabilitating and working with vulnerable/low-income people; hiring women from our community.
We will achieve environmental sustainability by: calculating the amount of carbon emissions we are preventing; producing more products during seasonal gluts to use as much British seasonal food waste as possible; diversifying our product line to use more waste; developing partnerships with local fruit and veg farmers to access their waste; redistributing waste we can’t use to other “food waste” companies.
Awareness & learning
How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?
Business innovation is valuable in any country and I am a strong believer in growth through economic development in developing countries. Social enterprise will facilitate this growth through jobs and skill development, and possibly allow developing countries to access to new sources of funding and partners. Social entrepreneurs are change agents and inspiring role models for their communities. Their impact in local communities can have positive strong ripple effects and influence others to make change too.
Social entrepreneurship encourages and empowers individuals to address problems around them using new and innovative approaches that value more than just financial gain, but social and environmental gains as well, which is win-win for everyone.
Entrepreneurship helps people become more self-sufficient and independent, by equipping individuals with valuable transferable skills, removing overall dependency on aid and donation-based giving.
What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?
It would be very rewarding to see what social business models farming communities in Uganda are using, & to learn more about their vanilla growing cooperative. It would also be very interesting to share best practices, lessons learned and perspectives on social enterprise with the Ugandan communities. I think that there is a lot developed countries can learn from developing countries in terms of innovative social enterprise models. I would be keen to explore whether there would be any scope to replicate our business model in Uganda.
Going to Uganda would be hugely inspiring and really put into light the UK’s excessive culture of consumerism. I would like to learn more about whether food waste is an issue in Uganda and whether their consumption is less wasteful and more responsible.
I've always had a heart for helping people and communities that are less privileged than my own and I believe that it is often the most valuable thing you can give
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