2016 BANKSIA FOOD FOR SUSTAINABLE AWARD

Natural Evolution, QLD

Every week in Far North Queensland 450-500tonne of bananas are wasted due to being out of supermarket specification, or over supply. After suffering devastating losses in 2 cyclones, Natural Evolution was born, creating banana flour from “waste” bananas. In this time Natural Evolution has built a fully pharmaceutical grade green banana processing plant and designed world first technology to take unsalable produce with a few weeks/days shelf life and turn it into high value food sources which can be stored for many years. The company has focused on large output of product with minimal energy use. Natural Evolution has also grown plantations of bananas implementing sustainable farming practices which use 25% less water and fertiliser. Living and operating a business in Tropical Far North Queensland – the Wet Tropics Catchment are for The Great Barrier Reef has encouraged us to demonstrate the best farming and processing practices. Natural Evolution has scientifically proven that green bananas are the richest source of resistant starch – a prebiotic nutritional supplement. Natural Evolution is leading the world in banana and food waste research and development. Commercial interest in product and process has seen representatives from Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, China, and Africa visit the facility and plantation in Walkamin, QLD.