Announcing SF Food Waste Meetup With Back to the Roots, Imperfect + More

From retailers rejecting “ugly produce”, to restaurants discarding excess food to eaters throwing out spoiled goods, roughly $400B in food ends up in landfills every year globally. To address this huge issue, innovators are developing new technologies and products to reduce food waste from farm to fork.

Come hang with the food innovation community at Food Waste Innovation From Farm to Fork on Thursday April 28 in San Francisco (location TBA) and meet some of the leading food waste game-changers including Back to the Roots, Imperfect, Cerplus and TwoXSea.You’ll get an inside look at their business models, challenges and lessons learned. We will have also have snacks and drinks from local makers. Snag your spot now HERE!

We’re Looking For Volunteers

We’re looking for a few awesome volunteers to help with event production. Email nina[at]foodtechconnect[dot]com if you’re interested.

Schedule

• 6:30 – 7:15: Networking + Snacks
• 7:15 – 8:45: Presentations + Q&A
• 8:45 – 9:30: More Networking

Confirmed Presenters

Nikhil Arora, Co-founder of Back to the Roots – A rapidly emerging organic food company that is dedicated to the movement of making food personal again, Back to the Roots was founded on the idea of turning waste into food. Its first product the Back to the Roots Mushroom Farm turned used coffee grounds into mushrooms. What started as curiosity about urban farming has turned into a passion for “Undoing Food” and reconnecting families to it through fun, delicious and sustainable “Ready to Grow” and “Ready to Eat” products.

Ben Chesler, Co-founder of Imperfect – America’s leading brand for ugly produce. Every year, 20% of fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S. fall short of the strict cosmetic standards of grocery stores. Most often, it’s because they have a different size or shape. Imperfect brings this produce to market for a 30-50% discount, starting in California. It’s mission is to fight food waste, support farmers and make it easy to eat healthy on a budget.

Zoe Wong, Co-founder & CEO of Cerplus – A B2B marketplace that connects discounted surplus produce with food businesses.

Kenny Belov, Founder of TwoXSea – TwoXSea supplies restaurants with amazing, sustainable seafood. It’s developing a food waste program in Sonoma County to convert part of the food waste stream to Black Soldier Fly protein for farmed fish and chicken. The process reveals a lot of unknown details about our food system. It hopes to convert 100 tons of food waste per day into highly beneficial protein and fat for our local food system.

Presenting Partner

Rabobank Group is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, and real estate services in more than 40 countries worldwide. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank today is one of the largest banks in the world, with nearly $1 trillion in assets, and ranks among the 10 safest banks globally. In the Americas, Rabobank is a premier bank to the food, agribusiness and beverage industry, providing sector expertise, strategic counsel and tailored financial solutions to clients across the entire food value chain. Rabobank. The financial link in the global food chain.® Follow them on Twitter at @RaboWholesale.

Supporting Partner

Asana is a fast-growing startup focused on helping teams get more done together by making software that helps them track their work. Based in San Francisco, the company is also renowned for its great workplace and dedication to mindful business. Join the company’s Live Well team at Asana HQ for the Food+Tech Meetup.

Food Partner

PopUpsters is the marketplace for PopUp events. It connects indie brands with their audience at events and retail spaces.