From cattle feed made from citrus waste to reusable milk kegs, the startups participating in Rocket Seeder's Food Waste + Loss program are finding innovative ways to fight the war on waste.
Beginning in December and culminating in a showcase event in April 2022, Rocket Seeder's accelerator program will support 15 Australian startups (or spinoffs of existing businesses) that are solving food waste and food loss problems.
The participants will receive mentorship from business leaders and entrepreneurs as well as a grant of $2000 upon successful completion of the program. They also have the chance to compete for a further $20,000 prize pool at the showcase event.
Among the 15 participants are Forkful, an app connecting consumers to unsold food from local restaurants at a discounted rate; Soyful, a company offering products made from soybean pulp; and Sensibility, technology that puts AI in the hands of farmers enabling them to assess the state of produce.
'We were blown away by the quality of the entries,' said Rocket Seeder Managing Director, Emma Coath. 'It's great to see that despite the challenges of the last couple of years people are still striving to find solutions to food waste issues.'
Rocket Seeder, which offers support to startups in the Australian food and agriculture sector, developed the Food Waste + Loss program to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals relating to food consumption and production.
Food waste accounts for more than 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than the entire aviation sector – and over half of Australia's value-chain food and waste losses come from family households.
'There is a huge opportunity here for ag tech and emerging entrepreneurs,' said Coath. 'Each of the participants has an exciting idea that will go a long way to promoting sustainable consumption.'
Rocket Seeder has over 60 alumni startups and an extensive global network in the food and agricultural industry.
Past participants of Rocket Seeder's programs include Josh's Rainbow Eggs, free range eggs that are now stocked in most major supermarkets; Life Cykel, kits that allow you to grow mushrooms from coffee grounds; and Phenomenom, an interactive food education resource developed by Nick Fallu and former Masterchef contestant Alice Zaslavsky.
A full list of participants is listed below and details of their projects are attached.
- WoWder
- In Season Juices
- Ripen Baby Food
- Seaweedery Pty Ltd
- Soyful
- ConnectOne Club
- Sensibility Ltd
- Forkful Pty Ltd
- Honest Feeds
- Whole
- Grow Ample
- Xerosphere
- Mindful Milk
- Food Remedy Co
- Foodcircle
