DID YOU KNOW...
...that a third of all food produced globally is wasted?
We believe that food should be valued as a precious resource. That’s why our products are packed with delicious ingredients that would otherwise go to waste - not because they taste any different, but often because they’re the wrong shape, size or colour.
Some say this is a load of rubbish, we take that as a condiment.
How It All Began
Growing up on a farm in Scotland, Rubies founder, Jenny, learnt to be resourceful & creative with food
After moving to London and starting a job in Finance, Jenny began reading about the problem of food waste. Shocked by the amount of fruit and veg that is rejected because it doesn’t look perfect, she began rescuing produce from New Covent Garden market and experimenting in the kitchen with childhood recipes.
In 2012, she decided to take the idea from side hustle to centre stage. Fast-forward eight years and Rubies in the Rubble is one of the pioneering voices in food sustainability, with an award-winning range of ketchups, mayos and relishes, stocked nationwide.
The Problem
The combined impact of food wastage contributes 6.7% of all green house gasses emitted
Food waste is an issue that occurs throughout the food supply chain. Some produce is discarded before it even leaves the farm, some is rejected when it arrives at the supermarket or restaurant and some simply ends up in a household bin.
Surviving the journey from farm to fork is a complicated process with many hurdles along the way. Kind of like Total Wipeout for fruit and veg, where the obstacles include: rigorous aesthetic criteria for produce, over-forecasted demand and inefficiencies in storing and distributing.
tons of food & drink are thrown away each year
The average cost per household of food waste
If we stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the benefit to the planet would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road
What We Do
We make award-winning condiments that are packed with flavour and packed with purpose.
Our range of ketchups & relishes are made with fresh fruit & vegetables sourced directly from farms, whilst our mayo is made with aquafaba, a plant-based alternative to eggs that is usually thrown away. Condiments are a fantastic way of preserving produce by extending their shelf-life with vinegars and sugars.
In other words, less waste, more taste.
WHAT Exactly is Surplus?
Produce can be rejected for a number of reasons from curly cucumbers to overly-ripe bananas
When an ingredient isn’t the standard size, it becomes tricky to process. A tiny onion for example doesn’t fit in the peeling machine so has to be processed by hand.
A pear-shaped pear or curly cucumber may not fit in regular supermarket packaging so often get rejected before leaving the farm.
A gnarly carrot or speckled banana can often be rejected due to poor consumer demand as customers are more likely to pick up a perfect looking produce.
Produce going to supermarkets have to have a certain amount of shelf life to be accepted. If an ingredient is too ripe then it will not meet this criteria and will be rejected.
An abundant harvest or a seasonal store promotion can mean the regular supply chain gets disrupted. Surplus can occur at this stage.
TOO BIG, TOO SMALL, OR JUST PLAIN PEAR-SHAPED
Our ingredients have to pass a taste-test not a beauty contest. We cherish the curves on a pear-shaped pear and delight in a squishy tomato (all the more flavour!). We embrace the diversity of nature and love the perfectly imperfect!
WHAT IMPACT IS RUBIES MAKING?
Since we started out, here’s the positive impact that our products have had. With your help we can do even more!
126195
kg of fruits and vegetables
225942
kg of CO2E
896436
miles driven
We find flavour in flaw, abundance in waste.
We see beauty where it shouldn't be.
Team
Here's our wonderful team of environmentalists and leftover lovers!
