SOIL TO OIL
Soilmates believe that the soil contains everything our body needs. No interference necessary: nature comes first. But so much of our natural resources go to waste. They’re discarded. Trashed. Thrown out, all for not conforming to the beauty standards of supermarkets and consumers. This includes avocados.
Did you know that more than 20% of all avocados are rejected because they’re considered ‘too ugly’? That’s over one million avocados per day in Europe alone. Per day, folks.
That’s where we come in.
UPCYCLING 'UGLY' AVOCADOS
Fighting food waste is at the heart of what Soilmates do. It means cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions, on pollution. It’s why we upcycle ‘category two’ avocados.
We source all our uglys from right here in Europe: pick them up from the port in Rotterdam. It’s local waste.
We bundle them up with love. Send them to our factory and squeeze the health out of them. They’re then popped into bottles of Healthy Oil, hugged with our label and sent to you, to be welcomed into your kitchen.
1. GROWN
Little avo pips are planted in patches of soil on farms across the world. They’re watered with care, and grow into beautiful avocado trees.
2. SORTED AT ORIGIN
Avocados are plucked from the branches and sorted. Those that look good are given the go-ahead for shipping. Those that don’t are left behind, upcycled at source.
3. SHIPPED
The avos start their journey across the seas. Some ripen along the way. Some don’t. Some pick up a bump here. Others pick up a bruise there.
4. ARRIVE IN EUROPE
After a few weeks of travel, the avocados – those that made the trip just fine and those that look a little worse for wear – arrive at the port in Rotterdam.
5. SORTED AGAIN
Here, avos are sorted into those good enough for supermarkets, and ‘category two’ avocados – the ‘uglys’. This is where Soilmates come in. We love the uglys. We rescue them.
6. PRESSED
While the pretty avos are sent to retail, the uglys are bundled up and taken to a factory in Ridderkerk, where Soilmates squeeze the health out of them.
Hello, avocado oil!
7. REFINED
Because we only use ‘ugly’ avocados, they need to go through a short, natural refining process, the result of which is a smooth, pure and nutrient-rich cooking oil.
8. BOTTLED
The oil is poured into bottles, and hugged with the Healthy Oil label. Look at them: standing proud, ready to join their pretty avo friends on supermarket shelves.
9. SOLD
Bottles are lined up in stores in Albert Heijn, and on the web shops of Picnic and Crisp, just waiting to be chosen and taken home by a Soilmate.
Is that you?
10. ENJOYED
Now is their time to shine! Healthy Oil makes its debut in kitchens across the country, popping up in everything from salads and stir-fries, to smoothie and steak recipes.
WE ❤ THE UGLYS
The great thing about rejected avocados – the uglys – is that they are just as healthy as the beautiful ones. It’s the inside that’s filled with power nutrients, after all. Soilmates rescue them. Give them a new life by transforming them into a healthy cooking oil – oil that we can use as the base for countless more sustainable and tasty goods. More healthy products, less food wasted, fewer hungry people. It makes us proud.
SOILSCIENCE
Soilmates believe in science. Solid facts. No fake news, no ‘he said, she said’. Which is why we spend a lot of our time on the numbers, investigating the health value of food we rescue, the nutritional value of what we produce, and our impact on the planet and its resources. We back it up. So that when we create something special, we know it’s worth celebrating.