We are proud to announce that Winnow has been awarded the People’s Choice award at Foodbytes NYC. Voted by attendees at the prestigious event and viewers on Facebook Live, Winnow was recognized among a growing number of startups addressing the global problem of food waste. Watch Winnow’s award-winning pitch recorded live at Foodbytes NYC.
Winnow’s Head of Marketing, David Jackson, said: “Winning Foodbytes NYC is a great validation for the impact Winnow is having on the problem of food waste. Chefs using Winnow are saving 18 million meals a year from the bin, and Winnow is now operational in over 35 countries. We are now in the process of bringing our ground-breaking technology to the US market and look forward to helping kitchens save thousands whilst doing the right thing for the planet at the same time.”
FoodBytes! by Rabobank is a global platform designed to build lasting connections between corporates, investors and the most promising food, food tech, and agtech startups. Attended by leaders from the foodservice and hospitality space, the event is part of a series that tours cities like London, San Francisco, and Berlin.
Launched by Rabobank in 2015, Foodbytes brings together global innovators in the food and agricultural space. Over 230 startups have pitched, 1,700+ have applied from 50 countries and more than 4,100 people have attended FoodBytes! events in North America, Europe, and Australia. The aim of the community is to help improve availability and access to food, promote healthy nutrition and increase stability in the food system.
In North America, Rabobank is the premier bank to the food, agribusiness and beverage industries. As one of the world's largest banks with over $750 billion in assets, Rabobank has deep expertise in the food and beverage sector.
Food waste was a hot topic at the two-day event. As well as Winnow, fellow food waste warriors Wasteless also walked away with the Highly Commended Award. Wasteless is the world’s first machine-learning solution with real-time tracking for grocery stores looking to offer customers dynamic pricing based on a product’s expiration date.
David Kat, Global SVP, Business Development, commented: ”We want to drive other companies in the food chain to go beyond their comfort zones, become more sustainable and help their suppliers and customers to do the same.”
Also pitching were Afresh whose forecasting technology helps retailers optimize inventory management of fresh food. In early trials, Afresh have demonstrated that with regional chains, we have demonstrated reductions in waste and out-of-stocks that equate to greater than $100K profit increase, per store, per year. In US grocery stores, 40 billion dollars worth of food is thrown away each year.
Food waste costs the global economy almost $1 trillion in lost value per year, the equivalent of over 1% of global GDP. In the USA, around 40% of all food is never eaten. ReFEd, a data-driven guide for business to reduce food waste at scale, identified waste analytics and tracking methods such as Winnow as a key preventative measure. We encourage all major food brands to invest in technology to effectively contribute to reducing one of the world’s most urgent issues: food waste.
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