Join the Food Waste Innovation Zone at the Global Sustainability Summit!

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Join the Food Waste Innovation Zone at the Global Sustainability Summit!

 

Posted by Elise Golan, Director, Sustainability Development, egolan@oce.usda.gov

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is inviting entrepreneurs who are developing new approaches for preventing or recycling food waste or recovering food for those in need to exhibit at the Food Waste Innovation Zone at the 2015 Global Sustainability Summit, August 19-21 at the Sheraton Downtown in Denver, Colorado. Come showcase your innovation and meet fellow innovators, food-waste reduction advocates and senior-level executives from the nation’s leading food retailers and manufacturers. You will also have a chance to compete in the Global Sustainability Summit Food Waste Start-Up Challenge event.

 

What is the Global Sustainability Summit? The objective of the Global Sustainability Summit, which is organized by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) working together as the Trading Partner Alliance, is to give companies the tools, connections, and proactive solutions to take sustainability programs to the next level. The Global Sustainability Summit has become a premier sustainability event for the food and consumer products industry worldwide, bringing together over 400 experts from a diverse slate of companies and industries.

 

What is the Food Waste Innovation Zone? The Food Waste Innovation Zone will consist of a centrally located area of tabletop displays (6-foot tables) exclusively designated to showcase innovations with the following objectives:

 

• Prevent food waste before it starts - such as innovations to prolong the storage life of food; improve processing and distributional efficiencies; and create new products from culls.
• Recover wholesome, excess food to feed people – such as innovative systems for connecting excess food with people who need it and measuring the value of food donations.
• Recycle food scraps to keep it out of landfills – such as innovations to connect food waste generators with recyclers and to create animal feed, compost, and energy.

 

What is the Food Waste Innovation Start-Up Challenge? Six food waste innovators from the Food Waste Innovation Zone will be selected to compete in the Start-Up Challenge. The top innovators, ideally two from each category listed above (food waste prevention, food donation, and food waste recycling), will be selected by a panel of judges from FMI and GMA to compete in a business plan-pitch style event following the opening keynote address. In the Start-Up Challenge, each of the top innovators will be given 3 minutes to make their pitch to a panel of experts and the full conference audience, followed by a few minutes of questions from the expert panel. The audience will choose the winning innovation. Click here to see past attendees to learn who you might be presenting to in August!

 

How can I or my business apply to participate in the Food Waste Innovation Zone (and Start Up Challenge)? The goal of the Innovation Zone is to promote entrepreneurship and new companies. As such, to qualify, businesses must be: 1) in business for less than 10 years, 2) have annual revenues of less than $15M, 3) have 35 employees or less. To apply, interested exhibitors should go to the Food Waste Innovation Zone Upload Form and complete the required questions including: company contact information, a short description of your business, an explanation of why your company should be included in the Innovation Zone, and an intent to participate form. The exhibition fee of $1,000, which includes two tickets to the Summit, is significantly lower than the standard exhibit fee so as to encourage smaller start-ups to apply. The Food Waste Innovation Zone is restricted to 25 exhibitors. Applications are due by July 22, 2015 and participants will be notified of their application status by July 31.