Wasted Apple turns surplus and unwanted apples into properly good cider and juice. We're based at Fentenfenna Farm in Cornwall, where food, people, enterprise and nature all have a habit of getting tangled up together.
Which suits us rather well.
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Great Drinks. Better Story.
Great Drinks. Better Story.
Every year, gardens and orchards across Cornwall produce more apples than people can use. Some are too small. Too wonky. The wrong variety. There are simply too many. Or nobody has the time to pick them.There's nothing wrong with them.
They just need somewhere to go. So we give them somewhere to go.
EST 2013
It started in Mark's garage.
Wasted Apple was founded by Mark Rudge in 2013 after a conversation with a neighbour about an orchard producing far more apples than anyone could use.
Mark couldn't stand seeing good fruit go to waste, so he and his family started making cider in their garage — initially using a homemade press built from plans found on the internet.
That simple idea became Wasted Apple.
There's considerably more to that story — including homemade machinery, 40 tonnes of apples and experiments involving everything from vinegar to jelly.
2024
A new home. A new chapter.
Wasted Apple had been part of Fentenfenna from the early days, with Mark becoming one of the farm's founding tenants.
When Mark decided the time had come for somebody else to take the idea forward, Luke and Amelia took on Wasted Apple through Fentenfenna Farm CIC.
Mark stayed involved as a Non-Executive Director, bringing his knowledge, experience and occasional answer to the question: “Mark, why is it doing that?”
Since then we've invested in new equipment, developed the drinks and brand, built new partnerships and started connecting Wasted Apple much more closely with the wider work happening at Fentenfenna Farm.
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WASTED APPLE TODAY
Same idea. Bigger ambitions.WASTED APPLE TODAY
Same idea. Bigger ambitions.
The original idea is still beautifully simple: stop good apples going to waste.
Today, we're doing that with better equipment, a growing network of apple donors and collectors, and a range of ciders and juices made here at Fentenfenna.
But we're also starting to understand just how much an apple can connect.
Wasted Apple has become one of the most tangible ways we can explore the thinking behind Fentenfenna.
Take something overlooked. Connect people, place, food, nature and enterprise around it. Make something useful.
Preferably something delicious.
Our Team
We’re an imperfect rabble of disruptors doing our best to make a difference.
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Luke Berkeley
Managing Director
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Amelia Berkeley
Director & Brand
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Ben Lewis
Production
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Sascha Rogalla
Lead Volunteer
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Mark Rudge
Founder | Non-Exec Director
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Nadia Henrique-Murray
Non-Exec Director
Got apples?
If you've got more apples than you know what to do with, we'd quite like them.
Garden trees, community orchards, farms, schools — if the fruit is good and it's going spare, we'd rather turn it into something delicious than watch it rot.
Your unwanted apples could be our next bottle.
No apples? That's fine. You can drink them instead.
