FoodMaven to 'capture and sell' $200 billion in food lost each year
Staff Writer |
About 40 percent of food produced by U.S. agriculture gets lost in a complex distribution system and is never used.
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This is contributing to the 133 billion pounds of food that's hauled to U.S. landfills each year. This is not only a social and environmental nightmare; it represents an estimated $200 billion per year in lost revenue.
Enter FoodMaven, an innovative online marketplace bringing agility and flexibility to the big food system, and providing significant savings on high-quality local and oversupplied food.
FoodMaven's business model complements the big food system by capturing high-quality lost food from oversupply, imperfects and local products.
The company has built an efficient Internet marketplace and rapid logistics system for capturing, re-selling and quickly delivering this lost food, drawing on big data optimization technology, and an agile logistics model for all food handling, safety and delivery.
For restaurants, institutional kitchens, and other buyers challenged by limited time, tight budgets, stringent requirements, and a continuous need to innovate, FoodMaven offers significantly discounted high-quality foods from trusted manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and local producers to complement their existing suppliers.
The FoodMaven Online Marketplace makes it easy for them to select products and payment options, and choose a delivery window that works for them.
For grocery distribution centers, food distributors, regional manufacturers, and local farmers and ranchers, FoodMaven provides an effortless way to make a profit on products that would otherwise be lost completely or be logistically and operationally challenging.
These suppliers face obstacles such as limited solutions for imperfect and surplus inventory (distributors) and the lack of time to build new sales channels (local producers).
FoodMaven helps them rescue revenue for their businesses by conveniently picking up, storing and selling their lost products.
Moreover, buyers and sellers using FoodMaven make a positive social and environmental impact. FoodMaven donates unsold food to hunger relief organizations and operates on a zero landfill policy.
Following a final build out in the Front Range metro areas of Colorado, FoodMaven will roll out its services nationally in 2018. ■