Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation

Agua Bonita is a cold-pressed juice company that makes juice out of surplus and ugly produce.

Matriark Foods upcycles farm surplus into healthy foodservice products for the benefit of people and nature. The company works with farmers and aggregators to make use of the 40% of vegetables that would otherwise go to waste in the fields. The company also works with food service providers to utilize the hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh-cut remnants from their food preparations. Vegetables are lightly enhanced with spices and fresh herbs, cooked, and pureed into healthy, low-sodium multi-use bases for vegetable-forward meals.

Grain4Grain is a San Antonio based food-tech startup. A couple years ago, we developed a patent pending process that allows us to dry and mill byproducts, specifically brewers spent grain, into a low carb, high protein flour. Spent grain is the number one byproduct from breweries and for over 100 years, breweries have been trying to develop a way to capitalize on this resource--think whey protein from cheese making. Our innovative methodology allows us to dry and mill brewers spent grain in under 20 minutes, down from the conventional 6 hours--allowing us to provide this incredibly healthy and sustainable ingredient at affordable prices to consumers and product makers. Since launching 10 months ago, we have been able to upcycle 120,000 lbs of wet spent grain, and have launched 2 CPG products in nearly 200 HEB stores. We are now in the works of developing contracts with product makers, bakeries, and even a dog food company!