At Salt & Straw, Sustainability Begins with a Scoop — and a Story

"A Portland-based creamery co-founded by Tyler Malek positions itself as a mission-minded media company that uses inventive ice cream flavors to tell stories about sustainability, food rescue, and community. Each April it runs an Upcycled Foods Series—born from a 2017 fundraiser with Urban Gleaners—that has, over three years, rescued and repurposed more than 40,000 pounds of surplus food into creative flavors like a Banana Parsnip Sherbet (made with rescued bananas), a beanless coffee blend using date seeds, fenugreek, and carob, a whey-derived “wheyskey,” and desserts featuring upcycled okara flour and “ugly” dried fruit; one recent item combined a brownie mix from Renewal Mill and chocolate-dipped Uglies potato chips into a Chocolate Malted Potato Chip Cupcake. The team treats R&D as playful and rigorous—willing to fail (20 unsuccessful tests of a crab-roll Neapolitan)—while keeping a year-round focus on eco-conscious operations, such as implementing certified compostable 5-ounce scoop cups systemwide (which cut an estimated 28,000 pounds of paper waste) and using compostable serveware since 2011. Overall, the operation aims to reduce food waste, highlight upcycled ingredient partners, and broaden customers’ awareness of food insecurity, local sourcing, and sustainable food systems through joyful, thought-provoking flavor storytelling." - Joy Cho