Take a Seat With: Michael Minch-Dixon and Ilana Taub

Meet the people behind Snact

Two lifelong friends – Michael Minch-Dixon and Ilana Taub – set out on a journey to fight food waste the tasty way.

They wanted to radically transform the global food system using their common interest in food and passion for sustainability. And so Snact was born in 2013 when they began with collecting surplus fruit from London’s wholesale markets.

Snact founders Michael and Ilana (Snact)

Armed with a dehydrator, they made snacks by hand in a Hackney kitchen and sold them at markets and events across the city, gaining support and valuable feedback from a growing crowd of Snactivists.

Their handmade fruit jerky is both gluten free and vegan. Their snacks are made with fresh fruit and fresh purees.

Ilana said: "We currently have three flavours: apple and raspberry; apple and mango; and apple, blueberry and banana."

Apple and mango fruit jerky in upcycled coconute shells (Snact)

Not to mention that their packaging is also environmentally friendly – it’s home compostable.

Michael said: “We put together snack and act. With each pack, you’re acting on food waste.

“So, we’re working with farmers and pack houses in the UK to help them use up surplus produce, so that’s fruit that’s too big or too small or blemished. They will normally be thrown away, but instead we buy it from them and we turn it into our deliciously sustainable fruit snacks.”

Michael and Ilana work with UK farmers to help them use up surplus produce (Snact)

He added: “Our packaging is also compostable, so you can throw it into your compost bin at home and it will completely degrade.”

Take a Seat With was filmed in Sofa Workshop, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TG.