10th September 2026
ZRO Group LTD Wins World Confectionery Awards’ Sustainability Initiative of the Year.
ZRO Group Ltd has been awarded Sustainability Initiative of the Year at the prestigious World Confectionery Awards 2026, recognising our work to keep food at its highest viable value and, wherever possible, within the human food chain. Behind this achievement is a story of collaboration and commitment. Working with businesses across SugaRich Group and alongside trusted partners, ZRO has developed an integrated system, designed to identify the highest value outcome for surplus food, including confectionery. Rather than treating every surplus stream in the same way, the ZRO system assesses whether surplus can be prevented, redistributed, reformulated, repurposed or recovered, helping create better outcomes for people, partners and planet.
Commenting on the award, Managing Director of ZRO Group Ltd, Matthew Stephenson said:
“This award reinforces our commitment to redefine how surplus confectionery is managed. By working closely with leading manufacturers, we can help retain more value from surplus, whilst keeping food within the human food chain.”
We’re proud to receive this recognition, but we know there is still more to do. As we work to shift the focus from simply managing surplus to retaining more of its value, we remain guided by one simple belief:
If something was made to be food, its highest value is to stay food.
We’d like to express our thanks to Neill Barston and the team at Confectionery Production, who continue to provide a platform that celebrates innovation within the global confectionery industry. We’d also like to extend our congratulations to all of the other finalists and winners at this year’s awards.
This award strengthens our ambition to build the world’s leading connected surplus food system.
