Startups that prevent food wastage by prolonging the lifetime of food or better managing food production through the supply chain. Companies that develop products such as sanitizers, containers, and machines that allow food to stay fresh longer are included here. Startups that develop algorithms to determine food preservation strategies are also included.

These startups ensure work to reroute surplus food to different sets of end-users including charity organizations and consumers seeking discounted items. This segment mainly consists of on-demand online platforms that connect producers, retailers, and restaurants with consumers via mobile app.

Startups that recycle food waste for industrial uses such as soil enrichment.

Startups that recycle food waste into edible food and beverages.

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

Overview

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 <h3>
 Food waste deserves better than landfills
 </h3>
 
 Global levels of food waste continue to increase, and the US alone has seen food waste triple over the past 50 years. Consumers have noticed and have begun voicing their concerns and increasingly taking action by demanding attention from corporations and regulatory bodies. 
 
 
 Both the United Nations and the United States government have set the goal of halving food waste by 2030. This all bodes well for a group of companies that are attempting to create a business out of food waste. The food waste management tech ecosystem includes devspelopers of products that 1) prevent food wastage (i.e reduce the volume of surplus food),  2) optimize food surpluses (resale or donation of food waste and oversupply), and 3) recycles waste for food, beverages, animal feed, or industrial use.  
 
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The US food waste management market could reach USD 11-15 billion by 2026

Market Sizing

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 Lockdowns and uncertainty encouraged food waste prevention and redistribution
 
 <ul>
 <li>
 
 Seebo
 reported strong growth in acquiring customers and revenue growth of nearly 400% YoY in 2020.
 
 </li>
 <li>
 
 Misfits Markets 
 had a nearly 100,000-person wait list at the end of April 2020 that it cleared by early June. Active customers and order volumes grew fivefold YoY and the company shipped to more than 400,000 customers across the US.
 
 </li>
 <li>
 
 Imperfect Foods
 reported a doubling of customer order size YoY and triple-digit revenue growth in 2020. The company also partnered with airlines and movie theaters to purchase excess food.
 
 </li>
 <li>
 
 Lean Path
 launched a mobile food waste measuring device for Covid-era restaurant menus to track food waste.
 
 </li>
 <li>
 
 Insignia Technologies
 used its labelling and packaging technology to denote the freshness of face masks.
 
 </li>
 </ul>
 
 Continuous business expansion despite the pandemic
 
 <ul>
 <li>
 
 Hazel technologies
 launched operations in Chile in October 2020.
 
 </li>
 <li>
 
 Food Maven
 , introduced a pickup option in March 2020 and drive through and delivery bulk grocery service in Colorado in March 2021.
 
 </li>
 <li>
 
 Hungry Harvest
 announced plans in March 2021 to move to a larger distribution center to expand capacity for its new ready-made food product line of business.
 
 </li>
 <li>
 
 Full Harvest
 , partnered with Danone in 2020 to launch a yogurt made from food that would otherwise have ended up at a landfill.
 
 </li>
 </ul>
 
 Successful funding rounds during the Covid chaos
 
 
 Food waste startups completed  22 rounds of funding and raised around USD 534 million in 2020. This trend continued into 2021 with around USD 479 million raised in 7 rounds during the first four months of the year.
 
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COVID19-IMPACT

Market Mapping

Recycling startups account for more than one-third of food waste industry disruptors and incumbents. The majority of these companies focus on recycling food waste into edible food and beverages. Despite having attracted the least amount of funding, these players are at either the early or growth stages of product development and customer acquisition.Businesses focusing on redistributing surplus food via online platforms represent 33% of the industry’s disruptors and incumbents with several such as Misfits Market and Hungry Harvest reaching relatively high levels of brand awareness.Waste prevention technology is a highly funded segment of the industry, after redistribution, with funding of around USD 623 million as of March 2021. The majority of these providers offer edible coating, smart packaging, or tracking systems to manage and prevent waste in the early stages of the food supply chain.

The Disruptors

Most startups in the food waste management industry focus on recycling food that is being wasted or redistributing them via online platforms. Most of these companies are in the growth stage, with successfully commercialized products and international expansions underway. In contrast, a smaller number of players focus on food waste prevention technologies such as packaging that extends shelf life, protective food coating, and devices that track and monitor food wastage. These startups are also mostly at the early or growth stage and have existed for several years or longer compared to players in the other segment. This dynamic can largely be attributed to the longer timeline required for food protection technologies.However, food prevention technology companies have attracted nearly USD 623 million in funding, more than the recycling segment of the industry—in part due to high R&D, prototyping, and regulatory costs.

Disruptor Funding History

The Incumbents

<div>
 <h3>
 Incumbents are mainly traditional waste management and food industry giants
 </h3>
 
 Most food waste industry incumbents are already established as providers of general waste management services and are now developing smart waste management techniques that involve recycling or redistributing food waste. Some leading food industry companies are also starting to adopt food recycling methods to prevent wastage including Kellog’s, Tyson Foods, Kroger, and Unilever.
 
 
 There is a lack of incumbent activity in the food prevention technologies or online platform spaces, implying that these are still emerging trends within the industry. However, major IT firms like IBM are developing smart waste management solutions.
 
 
 Overall, incumbents mostly appear to be developing their food waste management services in-house, although there are a few notable partnerships and acquisitions.
 
 
 
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Food Waste

Food Waste

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