Former foodstuff processors are feed business operators that buy former foodstuffs from food business operators when safety and traceability can be legally guaranteed. The end-product they produce, traditionally called “biscuit meal”, is delivered to compound feed manufacturers and in some cases directly to livestock farmers.
At its production site, the former foodstuff processor structurally separates the incoming former foodstuffs into different compartments. Depending on the demanded nutritional composition of the final product, the operator accordingly processes former foodstuffs from the different compartments and removes any packaging material. The biscuit meal will eventually be used as one of the ingredients for a compound feed used by livestock farmers, usually piglets.
Former foodstuff processors play an important role by connecting the food and feed industry at food manufacturing level. They provide food producers with a consistent outlet for their inconsistent flow of food losses as well as compound feed manufacturers with non-land using energy-rich alternative to grains.
In both segments of the food chain, the former foodstuff processing sector positively contributes to the ambition to use resources in the most sustainable way. EFFPA insists on former foodstuff processors to not be referred to as food waste recyclers, as the production process is not linked to the any form of waste processing.