Expiring and unsightly fruits can be an eyesore for stores. But Cyberport start-up Not Only Powder (NOP) has developed a solution to transform these perfectly nutritious foods into powdered food. The start-up’s solution combines the best of three worlds. It increases the fruits’ shelf life from two weeks to a year, reduces food waste, and promotes sustainability in an eye-catching and innovative way.
Specifically, the start-up collects fruits from fruit suppliers and uses advanced computer-vision technology to pick out fruits that are still in good condition—assessing the size, colour, stem colour, and other visible defects. Then, it freeze-dries them into crisps or powders, which can be consumed directly or sprinkled on dishes or beverages, such as smoothies, fruit shakes, or even water or milk.
Since its inception in August 2022, NOP has released four pilot products: banana crisps and powders in three flavours (bluenana, pikachill, and bloodyberry). In line with its sustainability commitments, NOP has also developed a supply management platform to facilitate communication, logistics, and transportation with fruit suppliers to ensure efficiency.
The start-up has received funding from the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund as well as the HK Tech 300 Seed Fund. NOP has also won the Nan Fung hackUST 2022 Champion Award and the Chan Dang Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Award.
Founders Amanda Fong and Fioni Fong were grateful to Cyberport for connecting them with potential business partners and the Cyberport community, which have helped them boost exposure, collect feedback, build connections, and generate business.
NOP currently serves primarily B2B clients. It is now exploring partnerships with business associations, hotels, schools, gyms, and other green living and healthy snack merchants to expand its market. Furthermore, it is in discussions with food manufacturers to increase production capacity.
