What Happens When You Give Upcycling a Home? 🌱
- Secontaste
- Jul 23
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 27
Looking Back at the First Chapter of Upcycling Space by Secontaste
This spring, we had the chance to open the doors of Upcycling Space by Secontaste with one simple but big question in mind: what happens when upcycling doesn't just live on store shelves or in webshops, but gets a real, physical space to come to life?
Now, after a two-month pop-up, we know the answer. Upcycling Space became so much more than a temporary store — it became a community spot where people could discover new flavors, start conversations, get inspired, and experience firsthand that exciting, high-quality products can be made from food industry by-products.
This first chapter has closed — but as you'll see below, the story is really just beginning.
”...this is their first physical appearance for the upcycling category they've been building, where they can now showcase not only domestic but also international products, complemented by other non-food and design items — bringing upcycling even closer to consumers in even more ways.“ (forbes.hu)
Why did we create the Upcycling Space?
Upcycling is still a fairly unfamiliar concept for most people, even though every day huge amounts of valuable ingredients go to waste simply because they don't "fit" traditional food industry processes.
At Secontaste and TransFoodMission, we've spent years working to change that — not only by developing our own products, but by putting real energy into making upcycling an easy-to-understand, accessible food category.
One question kept nagging at us: is a webshop enough for someone to truly understand what upcycling means? We decided it wasn't. People need to see these products, hold them, taste them. Talk about them. Meet the people behind them.
That's why Upcycling Space was born — the goal wasn't just to open a store, but to create an experience of upcycling itself.
Upcycling Space came to life as a joint initiative of the Nyitva! Festival, KÉK – Contemporary Architecture Centre, the Municipality of Józsefváros, and RÉV8, which gave us the opportunity to bring this experiment to life right in downtown Budapest, on II. János Pál Pápa Square.
The moment we first stepped into the empty retail space, we could immediately see the potential. Within a few weeks, together with our partners, we managed to build a place that delivered on the original vision: part store, part community space, part inspiration.
“"You could see the surprise on our partners' faces even during opening weekend. Maybe even they didn't fully grasp what we had imagined for the space when they were delivering their products and still saw nothing but an empty room."
Much More Than a Store
Yes, you could shop there — but from day one, we built a full program of events around the space. There were upcycling lunches, movie nights, and workshops.
These events proved that people engage with upcycling far more openly when they experience it, not just hear about it. We weren't running lectures — we were creating opportunities for discovery.
The Best MomentsÉ Events & Highlights
Over two months, we ran a huge number of programs — here are just a few standout moments.
Porride workshop ft Treat 
Tökfőzelék Pope-Up ft. Főzelékes Feri 
Zero Waste Pasta Lunch 
Secontaste Film Club
An Upcycled Community, All in One Place
One of Upcycling Space's most important goals was to bring together as many domestic and international upcycled brands as possible, under one roof. We were thrilled by how many partners joined the initiative. Over the past two months, we had the chance to work alongside:
Eat Wasted – a Copenhagen-based brand making premium, bronze-die pasta from rescued bakery surplus
Grapoila – cold-pressed oils, gluten-free seed flours, and gourmet foods made from 20+ types of seeds, with a zero-waste approach
Sunflower Family – a German family brand making organic, plant-based burger and bolognese bases from 100% sunflower protein
Tunki Tunki – 100% plant-based dips; their mushroom cream, made with Secontaste, uses rescued ingredients
Zero Guilt® – free-from pizzas, breads, and pastries; their upcycling line is made from pressed beetroot pulp
Mokyen – gluten-free, plant-based treats; their upcycled biscuits use oil-production by-products and fruit/vegetable fibers
Scuba Kombucha – fermented soft drinks; their Sour Cherry Cascara kombucha is flavored with their own sour cherries and coffee cherry husks
Ebkeksz – upcycled dog treats made from rescued fruit and vegetable fiber, developed with Superjuice and Mancskonyha
Mancskonyha – cooked and frozen dog food, also active in upcycling collaborations
Kamélia Kert – premium tea blends, including a tea made with cocoa bean husks, a by-product of chocolate production
MONYO Brewing – a Budapest brewery making non-alcoholic drinks based on cascara (coffee cherry husk)
OBJEKT – one-of-a-kind bags and accessories made from advertising waste, such as building wrap mesh
Pacha de Cacao – an Amsterdam-based brand making a natural drink from cocoa fruit pulp
Roots Radicals – a Berlin-based zero-waste brand making pickles and sauces from rescued or "imperfect" fruits and vegetables
Sōsan Design – bags and accessories hand-sewn from rescued seatbelts and airbags
UNITO – flexible, modular shelving systems
Ursuslupus –a Budapest upcycling brand making fashion items from bicycle tires, rubber mattresses, and tent fabric
Wunderkern – a plant-based cocoa drink made from apricot kernels
Secontaste – an upcycled food brand turning food producers' by-products (like spent grain) into delicious, waste-free bites
Each brand told the same story from a different angle: a by-product isn't waste — it's the beginning of a new story.
🫶 Thank You to Our Partners
This project wouldn't have been possible without so many amazing partners. Thank you to every brand who trusted us, and to every speaker, workshop leader, and collaborating partner. Special thanks for the support and collaboration go to:
...and to every speaker, creator, and participant. This was truly a shared project.
What We Learned
The best moments didn't happen at the checkout counter — they happened over a shared lunch, in the middle of a workshop, in a conversation after a film screening, or the first time someone said:
"I had no idea something like this existed."
This Is Just the Beginning
While Budapest's first chapter has come to a close, the Upcycling Space story is far from over. We're already working on bringing the concept to other cities — with even more local brands, more gastronomic experiences, and more community programming.
We believe upcycling truly becomes second nature when people don't just hear about it, but get to live it.
Let's keep going together!
Curious where the initiative is headed next? Follow us so you don't miss the next cities, events, and pop-ups — and if you liked what we're doing, share it with others!
And if you're a brand interested in joining a future Upcycling Space, or you'd like to offer a venue for the next pop-up, or organize an event with us — get in touch!
