Clean + Conscious Awards. Best Upcycled Food 2023. The Corner Store Jam

The Corner Store – Corner Store Jam

RRP: $8.00

GOLD + Editor’s Choice

Corner Store Jam is a hand-made product in Melbourne that addresses food waste, community disengagement and food insecurity. Their unique flavours result from using rescued fruits, preventing landfill and rotting.

Clean

Made from excellent ingredients.

Ethical

The Corner Store aims to build engaged communities through weekly community preserving sessions, during which volunteers gather to make jams and converse with like minded individuals. The brand donates a portion of its jams to Australian food banks and has opened a shipping container kitchen and preserving hub in Timor-Leste where local women are trained in preserving techniques and earn meaningful incomes through a micro loan program. The brand's preserving hub in Timor-Leste is managed entirely by local women, and all earnings go straight into their pockets.

Sustainable

The Corner Store is committed to reducing food waste by producing jams made from locally donated fruit that would have otherwise been thrown away. The brand also encourages customers to return jars for commercial cleaning and reuse and uses home compostable packaging for mailing bags, stickers, tape and labels. All fruit scraps are composted and the brand undertakes an annual carbon audit to offset double their annual carbon footprint, although they do not claim to be carbon neutral.

Responsible

The Corner Store is committed to social responsibility efforts in four key areas. They prioritise environmental responsibility by rescuing food, offsetting carbon emissions, using home compostable packaging and reducing environmental impact. They recognize their ethical and human rights responsibility through their preserving program aimed at ensuring everyone has access to nutritious food year-round. The Corner Store also supports economic responsibility by providing Timorese women with a meaningful income and education/training around regenerative agriculture principles, food preservation and reducing food waste. Through their jam, they are working towards UN Sustainable Development Goals 2, 9, 10, 12 and 13.

Product reviews from our experts…

I love that this jam is made from upcycled, locally-grown fruit that would otherwise be thrown away and that the brand is providing purpose to communities who face social barriers.

I’m also impressed that the Corner Store is working to address several UN Sustainable Development Goals 2, 9, 10, 12 and 13. Specifically I commend their commitment to net zero and offsetting double their greenhouse gas emissions each year in addition to their efforts to reduce food waste (and thereby greenhouse gas emissions).

–Laura Trotta

This was the most delicious jam – so full of flavour with huge full figs in it. I couldn’t stop eating it, especially with cheese – So tasty! I also love the focus of this organisation – they are committed to ethical and mindful production of a fabulous product. They are tackling food waste, community sharing and assisting small communities. This stacks up to a wonderfully focussed initiative!

–Corrine Sultana

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