Unlike before, there is an increased awareness to protect the Earth and reduce carbon emissions. People across the world come up with various lifestyle changes and adopt new technologies to live a sustainable life. While there are ways that we follow such as electric vehicles and solar power, one major aspect that is overlooked is food waste.
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Well, food is wasted or lost starting from the farm to the table. And, it is not only the food that is wasted but also valuable resources such as land and water. When food is wasted, it leaves adverse effects on the environment. There are reports that food waste contributes to 8% of the global greenhouse gas emissions.
To save the Earth and minimise the emission of greenhouse gases, it is important to prevent food waste or at least reduce it. And, this is the mission of some Dutch startups that aim to keep food waste at the bay. Here are 10 promising food waste management startups in the Netherlands as sourced from Dealroom.
PeelPioneers (Son)
Founders: Sytze van Stempvoort
Funding: €1 m
Founded year: 2016
Why its hot: PeelPioneers wants to make a difference in the food industry by putting orange peel that is wasted to use. There are claims that over 250 million kilos of citrus peel is discarded every year in the Netherlands. PeelPioneers uses these peels to extract valuable raw materials to be used in various industries. Eventually, the wasted peel becomes raw materials, thereby contributing to a circular economy.
Zero Foodwaste (Utrecht)
Founders: Olaf van der Veen, Richard Beks, Bart van Arnhem
Funding: €50k
Founded year: 2018
Why its hot: Zero Foodwaste is a Dutch startup, which operates with the mission to make the world’s food system sustainable. The company does this by using innovative and progressive technology. Zero Foodwaste provides hospitality organisations with a complete insight into food waste and helps them cut the waste in half with the use of recent developments in Artificial Intelligence and computer vision. It uses a smart camera fitted on top of a waste bin and connects it to a scale to register all food that makes its way into the bin.
GiantLeaps (Amsterdam)
Founders: Laura Heerema
Founded year: 2017
Why its hot: GiantLeaps estimates the climatic impact caused by the food that is served. It provides details per dish on the menu or via an analysis of the products that are purchased. The startup provides clear graphics and numbers using Life Cycle Assessment and provides an insight into those products that contribute the most. With this solution, restaurants can measure progress and implement climate-friendly measures too.
De Clique (Utrecht)
Founders: Anja Cheriakova
Founded year: 2019
Why its hot: De Clique based in Utrecht intends to save a million kilos of raw materials at the restaurant and company-level catering. The company wants to put an end to the one-time use of materials and subsequent disposal as waste should come to an end. De Clique wants to turn cities into inexhaustible resources with its solution.
Get Chef’s (Amsterdam)
Founders: Bruce Westeneng
Founded year: 2016
Why its hot: Get Chef’s is the pioneer in combating food waste. The company develops smart online tools for companies to realise the food that goes waste. Get Chef’s works in collaboration with charities to reduce food waste and thereby prevent food shortages. The startup is active in Amsterdam, The Hague and Maastricht.
CircleSmart (Wageningen)
Founded year: 2016
Why its hot: CircleSmart believes that there is a smart way to receive maximum value from residual resource streams. The company does this by connecting suppliers directly with prospective buyers so that they can use the residuals in their production processes. This startup does this by overcoming the barrier and bringing about more transparency in the supply and demand. It aims to accelerate the transition and bring about a circular economy along with adding economical and environmental value to users.
BrouwBrood (Amsterdam)
Founders: Laila Blömer, Sophie Louise Koopmans, Laurens Samson, Mathijs Smeets
Founded year: 2016
Why its hot: BrouwBrood supplies pieces of bread to catering services with a sustainable ingredient, beer broth. Founded by four students from the University of Amsterdam as they pursued a course on Circular Economy, this startup has come up with a sustainable alternative to waste streams. Brewer’s spent grain is a residual stream of different grains from the beer brewing process that can be reused in a high-quality way with this idea and support a local circular economy.
NoFoodWasted (‘s Hertogenbosch)
Founders: August de Vocht
Founded year: 2014
Why its hot: NoFoodWasted was founded with the mission to show that things can be done differently. Food waste has been a tough challenge for a very long time and it needs practical and innovative solutions to benefit everyone including entrepreneurs, consumers, and the environment. The NoFoodWasted app does this by mapping products that are nearing the expiration date and showing how much can be saved where.
Milgro (Rotterdam)
Founders: Laurens Groen
Founded year: 1993
Why its hot: Milgro enables companies to make the transition from raw materials to using the same. The company follows a unique approach to waste and raw material management keeping the principles of circular economy in mind. Milgro is a fast-growing company in the cleantech sector and is focused on achieving sustainability in the industry.
Pectcof (Wageningen)
Founders: Rudi Dieleman
Founded year: 2011
Why its hot: Pectcof unlocks the potential of coffee pulp by extracting highly valuable products such as pectin, antioxidants, sugars, and cellulose. The focus is on the food ingredient pectin as 20% of the coffee pulp is pectin and there is a need in the market for it as an emulsifier and stabiliser.
Main image picture credits: PeelPioneers
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