Probably a lot, considering that of the 70 billion farmed birds consumed each year, some 66 billion are chickens, according to a survey published in 2019 by the UK’s Royal Societyindependent scientific academy.

To help reduce food waste, a Finnish company is proposing to reuse leftover chicken bones by incorporating them into other ground-chicken-based products such as nuggets, sausages or meatballs. The idea is to grind up the bones into a very fine powder, then mix this with vegetable protein and a little chicken meat.

“SuperGround is an industrial partner for food production companies worldwide who aim to make their production instantly more efficient and sustainable. … Our one-of-a-kind food technology enables production lines to produce 30% more from poultry by harnessing the full nutritional potential of bones,” the company promises on its website.

Founded by Santtu Vekkeli and Tuomas Koskinen, the Helsinki-based company recently launched the first nuggets made with its chicken paste, which is made using leftover bones ground into powder form.

“Our process transforms bone and other hard tissues into a mass with a mouth feel indistinguishable from the entire product,” explains the company in support of its process.

However, the promised reduction in food waste should perhaps be approached with caution, as leftover chicken bones are already recovered most of the time, to make food for pets or livestock, for example.

This Finnish start-up is therefore effectively tapping into an existing market by focusing its offerings on food for human consumption. It remains to be seen whether consumers will be keen on the idea of eating a product made from chicken bones!