In a related article, Dole Specialty Ingredients also shared how the company is positioning upcycled ingredients as part of its broader growth strategy.
While upcycled ingredients are gaining attention globally, DSI Managing Director Weitze Ooi said scaling the model remains challenging, particularly in Asia-Pacific markets.
Cost remains the biggest barrier to scaling upcycled ingredients, as natural, green-label options struggle to match the price and performance benchmarks of modified starches.
“Some manufacturers compare ingredients purely on numbers – for example, a 100% fibre modified starch versus our 40–50% fibre banana ingredient,” Ooi said. “We can’t compete with chemicals on that basis, it’s impossible.”
As a result, DSI has increasingly turned to finished product concepts in APAC to demonstrate value beyond ingredient price alone.
“So in APAC, we are also pushing finished product concepts. We formulate snacks and chips using our ingredients to show gluten-free, low-GI and clean-label benefits. This helps customers understand the nutritional and commercial value,” Ooi said.
“Food innovation is a slow and step-by-step process – unlike AI revolution, you can’t jump from step one to step eight. But people are becoming more health-conscious. As healthier products become more affordable and taste improves, demand will grow. It just takes time.”
He added that operational realities further complicate efforts to scale upcycling at an industrial level.
Supply chain challenges
The biggest challenge lies in the supply chain process – specifically, how to collect the waste or side streams in the cost-effective way.
“Even if the waste itself has no cost or minimum cost, we still need to pay for transportation and labour to load it onto trucks. To avoid fermentation, we must ensure the waste is collected, transported, and processed within a strict timeframe,” Ooi explained.
“After that, microbial kill steps must be validated, and the final ingredient must meet food safety standards. So the entire supply chain is a major challenge.”
Furthermore, the firm takes the initiative to help suppliers facilitate the collection process. This ensures food safety and quality are not compromised.
“For example, in the Philippines, our banana and pineapple farms are huge with hundreds of packing facilities. We guide them on how to collect waste properly,” said Ooi.
“We also repurpose sacks from our factories. Instead of throwing them away, we send thousands of these sacks back to the farms. Workers can fill them with rejected bananas, load them onto trucks, and send them to the processing factory. We prepare whatever they need – bins, plastic bags, equipment – so the collection is properly done.”
These operational costs, on top of further processes to ensure food safety, are reflected in product pricing.
While some customers appreciate clean-label upcycled ingredients and are willing to pay a premium, others continue to prioritise cheaper alternatives.
“In APAC especially – except for some markets like Australia, Japan, and Korea – most buyers prioritise price and volume. Many markets still care less about sustainability,” said Ooi.
Despite these hurdles, DSI has begun to demonstrate that its operations model can work under the right conditions.
Proving the model at scale
DSI began its operations in the Philippines, where Dole’s supply chain is highly integrated, allowing side streams to be collected, processed and validated within a single geography.
Once the model is proven at scale, the company plans to replicate it across other Dole operations, including Thailand and Africa. The firm also has operations in California, but with focus on temperate fruits such as strawberries and peaches.
For now, the focus is on validating the entire system – from reliable raw material supply and processing technologies to customer adoption at commercially viable price points.
“Today, we’re serving more than 50 customers. In the last one year and nine months – roughly one and a half years – we’ve already processed almost 10,000 tonnes of waste,” said Ooi.
“So I believe this business model is working.”
