Snact

Michael and Ilana are the duo behind Snact, and they are working together to create a greener, fairer and generally better food system. Whilst the food industry may discard quantities of fresh food because it is the wrong shape or size, funky fruit is this pair’s jam.

Tackling this kind of food waste issue requires innovative solutions, and after deciding that “making fruit jerky beats sitting behind a desk all day”, Michael and Ilana pooled their shared interest in food and sustainability to form Snact; handmade snacks such as fruit jerky and banana bars that are nutrition-packed and that also help to tackle food waste in the UK at the same time. They use food that is wasted for all the wrong reasons, that is still perfectly good and edible, to make these great Snacts – something that they like to call Snactivism.

Over 9 months, they researched technologies, developed processing techniques, tested their product and shared their idea with as many people as possible. Once confident that it was ready for enjoyment by the masses, Snact launched their Crowdfunder campaign and 273 happy Snactivists gave them the vital boost needed to grow.

Teaming up with charities, small businesses and individuals who are making sustainability and ethics cool and classy, the rewards on offer from Snact were difficult for their audience to pass up. Pants to Poverty, Ceridwen Buckman (author of Street Food: Urban foraging and world food), Rubies in the Rubble and roaming restaurant Mazi Mas, amongst others, all contributed to the success of the campaign.

How did running a campaign with Crowdfunder help Snact?

“Crowdfunding was an amazing experience for us. Aside from raising the funds that we needed to get the Snact ball rolling, it also gave us a boost in confidence on what we do and raised awareness of our brand.”

What can Snactivists expect to see in the near future?

“We’re going to use the money in several ways. First off, part of it will go to making plenty of Snacts for all of our supporters! The rest is going towards setting up a bigger and more reliable process to make Snacts, setting up our direct sales models and more promotion.”

Innovative, groundbreaking, entrepreneurial; Snact is the perfect example of the way in which great ideas can make a difference. As the Snact team say, when little actions come together they can make something bigger than themselves and that, in essence, is what crowdfunding is all about.

• Want to know more about Snact? Visit their Crowdfunder project page here.