Waste Food to Quality Stock Feed at EcoStock

EcoStock, which its founder says is the “unsexiest” business in NZ, creates stock food from food waste, and was the major winner of the University of Auckland Business School Entrepreneurs’ Challenge last year. 

Andrew Fisher, Managing Director of EcoStock, has an interesting background – leaving high school to go into the army, becoming an engineer and then an SAS troop commander. He had 13 years total in the army, including nine in combat, leaving in 2004. 

In 2011, EcoStock was the supreme winner of the Green Ribbon Awards announced by the Minister for the Environment, Nick Smith. 

The Ministry for the Environment’s Green Ribbon Award website states ”EcoStock is a small business making a difference in waste minimisation by turning food waste into a high quality food product for livestock. EcoStock collect food waste from processors, retailers, importers, and transport companies, and instead of going to landfill, it is processed into high-quality stock food at their plant in South Auckland. 

EcoStock currently services the upper North Island, and in the past 12 months has diverted 25,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill. EcoStock is an example of an innovative small scale commercial operation helping to minimise waste for measurable environmental benefits. EcoStock is an example of an innovative small scale commercial operation helping to minimise waste for measurable environmental benefits.” 

In 2013 EcoStock won $750,000 in the University of Auckland Business School Entrepreneurs’ Challenge. The Auckland University’s website states: 

“The challenge provides up to one million dollars annually for investment in high-growth New Zealand companies with global potential. 

Since the launch in 2009, made possible by a generous three-million-dollar foundation gift from New Zealand philanthropist and businessman Charles Bidwill, 15 companies in the last 5 years have been awarded funding. Companies we believe embody the excellence and ingenuity of New Zealand’s best entrepreneur. 

Funding is provided in the form of a commercial loan offered on terms more favourable than those prevailing in the market for companies of a similar age, stage and risk profile. 

The benefits for the successful applicants include: 

• Access to funding of up to $1m for 3 years, on favourable terms, for growth and development
• The opportunity to work with the Entrepreneurs’ Challenge Investment Committee and to receive expert feedback
• Mentoring from highly experienced and successful entrepreneurs and business executives
• Profile and publicity at all stages of the Challenge
• Widespread recognition as a company with significant potential
• Access to the Entrepreneurs’ Challenge and the University of Auckland Business School’s networks and entrepreneurial ecosystem
• The opportunity to benefit from engaging with the Business School, which includes access to students and graduates as potential interns or employees, its capability building programmes, consulting projects and access to expertise of UABS academics and The Icehouse(a business incubator connected to the University of Auckland Business School). 

Andrew says the business is all about reverse engineering. “Every week we divert an Olympic swimming pool’s worth of food waste away from landfill. And for every 10t of waste to landfill, one job is created. For every 10t to recycling, 23 jobs are created. 

Last year our company put $30million back into the domestic economy.” 

He wants to take EcoStock to Australia. “We want EcoStock to be the benchmark for food safety and food security.” 

At the moment 200t of food waste a day are collected from around 70 food manufacturers and processed into rations for dairy cows from Te Awamutu up to Kaitaia. They sell to a fixed client base of pig and dairy farmers. 

For these food manufacturers, issues such as food safety and food security are really important. They need full traceability, not just within their systems but also for all their waste. It’s important they have good credible systems which can be quickly audited. 

Food manufacturers have wastage of around 2-6% and that wasted food might be the result of incorrect recipes, machinery breakdowns, packaging failures or stock which is past its use-by date. 

Before EcoStock this was going to landfill, which costs around $200/tonne. 

Now EcoStock buys this material from the food manufacturers, so they can recover some money against it. And they collect it, running a fleet of 16 trucks (and access to another 10 if necessary), all of which have video cameras and GPS and so can be traced. For example, a customer in Melbourne will be able to watch trucks picking up waste from their Auckland factory, and then it arriving at EcoStock and being sorted into one of six different categories. 

There are de-packaging machines, then the waste is classed and graded and put through magnets to remove the metal. There is a visual sorting line where they check particularly for glass. 

EcoStock employs 41 staff and 12 sub-contractors. 

They don’t handle meat; instead they have a parallel business Greenpath, which manages waste meat and takes it for rendering. 

They also have very good systems so they know where their stock food goes. 

Andrew has used European and American standards and added these to the current NZ standards. For example the British Retail Consortium Standard is now becoming common, especially with respect to manufacturing home brands. 

EcoStock has auditing mechanisms which help them work with the Ministry for Primary Industry. They also carry $20million of public liability insurance. “I take my responsibility quite seriously.” 

Andrew says the business is like an accident and emergency ward. “Some days it is really quiet, and hardly anything is happening, but on other days, say if a gas pipeline is damaged or power goes off to a plant, then food has to be dumped. For example heat is needed to control chocolate manufacturing, and if the gas goes off, vats need to be emptied before the chocolate sets. 

It’s like triage, every client, no matter how big or small, has to be put into the mix and helped. It’s a 24/7 operation too, but we have Christmas and Good Friday off. 

One reason we have been successful is because our systems are now on a similar scale to those of the two big waste companies.

I am proud we are taking material away from landfill. There’s still some science and engineering I want to bring in. I like the idea of recycling and growing the business. We have saved two big manufacturers more than a million dollars a year in landfill costs, savings which have kept them going during the recession.” 

In 2013 EcoStock won $750,000 in the University of Auckland Business School Entrepreneurs’ Challenge. This information is from Auckland University’s website: 

“The challenge provides up to one million dollars annually for investment in high-growth New Zealand companies with global potential. 

Since the launch in 2009, made possible by a generous three-million-dollar foundation gift from New Zealand philanthropist and businessman Charles Bidwill, 15 companies have been awarded funding – companies, we believe embody the excellence and ingenuity of New Zealand’s best entrepreneur. 

Funding is provided in the form of a commercial loan offered on terms more favourable than those prevailing in the market for companies of a similar age, stage and risk profile. 

The benefits for the successful applicants will include:

• Access to funding of up to $1m for 3 years, on favourable terms, for growth and development
• The opportunity to work with the Entrepreneurs’ Challenge Investment Committee and to receive expert feedback
• Mentoring from highly experienced and successful entrepreneurs and business executives
• Profile and publicity at all stages of the Challenge
• Widespread recognition as a company with significant potential
• Access to the Entrepreneurs’ Challenge and the University of Auckland Business School’s networks and entrepreneurial ecosystem
• The opportunity to benefit from engaging with the Business School, which includes access to students and graduates as potential interns or employees, its capability building programmes, consulting projects and access to expertise of UABS academics and The ICEHOUSE (the commercial arm of the University of Auckland).