Kelowna fruit soda manufacturer wins provincial sustainability award

Kelowna-based Farming Karma Fruit Co. has won a provincial beverage industry award for its sustainability efforts.

The BC Food and Beverage Awards are held annually and recognize food and beverage companies for their leadership, sustainability efforts, and dedication to innovation and social impact, according to a media release. The Circularity Award recognizes companies that have a strong commitment to minimizing waste generation and promoting the whole use of a product through the reuse, repair and recycling principles.

"We are honoured to win this award," Farming Karma president and co-founder Binny Boparai said in the release. "The award is a reminder of our journey and the extra steps we take to ensure we create our products responsibly. Our core values are to create good, healthy, clean products in the most sustainable way possible. To be recognized for our efforts means a lot to us.”

Farming Karma, which makes fruit sodas, has a strong commitment to sustainability.

The company grows and uses apples that may not make it to the grocery store. It uses air technology to juice the apples to reduce excess water use. The pumice left over from the juicing process is used as cattle feed. Instead of plastic packaging, the company uses aluminum cans for the soda.

Susgrainable Health Foods Inc. from Vancouver and Legends Haul from Coquitlam were the runners-up for the prize.

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