Australian apple brand Batlow Apples has teamed up with Sydney brothers, Sam and Rich Coombes to make Batlow Premium Cider from apples that may have gone to waste.
Batlow Apples has identified a way to reduce the impact of waste on its overheads and turn it into a new, marketable product and create an additional revenue stream.
"Batlow Apples was looking at ways of realising the value of fruit that did not make the grade for the supermarket shelf," said Rich Coombes.
"Those apples that are blemished or bruised, often through severe weather events, still have value but a significant quantity is being wasted - either discarded or left on the trees. Through the added value process of cider production, we have been able to generate revenue from these apples and have made picking them justifiable," said Rich.
"The recovery rate of apples has increased our financial returns and that would not have been possible without the production of cider. This also has a flow on effect for local employment and certainly means fewer apples are being wasted which is great for the environment," said Rich.
Batlow Apples and the Batlow Brewing Company are located in Batlow, in the Snowy Mountains region of NSW. The apples are grown, picked and pressed in small batches in Batlow and then transported to the cidery, where they are allowed to ferment under strictly-monitored conditions.
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