Podcasts about renewal mill

As someone who's been mostly vegetarian for a number of years, I have tried a lot of plant-based foods and there's a variety of them. And so how do they really taste, not just from my perspective? Well, it's really important to do really careful analysis, and this is going to be the subject of our conversation today. Plant-based foods are becoming increasingly healthier and cheaper. But one large question really remains for consumers. How do they taste. NECTAR, a nonprofit initiative on a mission to accelerate the alternative protein transition sets out to answer this question. Through large scale blind taste tests with thousands of consumers. NECTAR is amassing the largest publicly available sensory database on alternative protein products. In its latest report, Taste of the Industry 2025, NECTAR conducted blind sensory panels of 122 products across 14 categories and uncovered which products have achieved the taste that's on par with their animal-based counterparts. Today we talk with NECTAR's Director, Caroline Cotto, about which products are meeting and exceeding consumer taste expectations and what the alternative protein industry needs to do to get more products to this level. And how NECTAR's novel dataset can be used to get there faster. Interview Summary I understand you've conducted the world's largest clinical sensory test for plant-based and alternative meats compared to real animal meat. Tell me about how you conducted this study and why NECTAR is focused on this research. Absolutely. So, for us, we're really focused on this research because we know that taste is a major purchase driver for consumers and it's often the key reason people cite for not repurchasing plant-based meats once they've purchased them. We really want people to come back to the category and so in order for that to happen, we need taste to be where consumers expect it to be. As you mentioned, we set out to conduct a large study and sort of understand where the products on the market taste today. So, we tested 122 products across 14 categories. And we chose those categories by looking at the highest volume selling categories of animal meat, and then mapping the plant-based products to those categories. And then 43 of those products were from Europe as well. So, we were trying to get a real landscape analysis. Different than traditional sensory testing, we conducted all of our studies in restaurant settings to give a more natural experience for the participants. And all of our testing is done with omnivore consumers. So, we love vegans and vegetarians, but we're really trying to go after that hardcore meat eater and see if we can get them to switch because they love the taste of these products. And then the other difference is that we serve everything in what we call a full build. We serve burger patties and buns, hot dogs and buns. We really allow consumers to apply condiments as long as they do it equally across all of the products that they're testing, um, to give that authentic experience as they would experience the product in their own kitchen. And we ended up having 2,684 participants in this city. Each product was tried by a minimum of 100 consumers. Wow, that's pretty extensive. What were some of the surprising results of this? Yeah, I think we found that the average plant-based product was not quite ready for mainstream adoption. The average plant-based product was generally disliked more frequently than the animal product was, with 35% of tasters rating the product. Some form of dislike. And only 9% of tasters rating animal products as some form of dislike. That said, we did find 20 products out of the 122 that were worth celebrating. We created the Tasty Awards based on this data. And we set a threshold for top performance. And that threshold was that of the people that tried the product, if at least 50% of them said that it, that plant-based meat was the same or better than the animal meat that it was considered a winner product in this study. I'm super exciting to see that we saw 20 products meet that threshold. However, these products were not distributed equally across categories. Some categories had up to five products that met the winner threshold and other categories had none. And we also found that no products in this year's study actually achieved parody with animal meat. So, four products came very close, and we're expecting that in next year's study, that there will be some products that achieve that milestone. But we're not there quite yet. And then lastly, we found that there really is a correlation between great taste and financial return. So, we found that the plant-based products that perform best in our sensory tests are actually capturing 50% more market share than the average products in that category. And the categories that taste better are capturing more market share than the lower performing categories. Wow. That's really fascinating and there are lots of ways of sort of thinking through the data. I'd like to hear a little bit more about how those consumer preferences vary across different categories of plant-based products such as burgers, nuggets, and hot dogs. Are there specific sensory attributes that consistently influence consumer satisfaction? Yes, so overall we found that flavor is the top opportunity for plant-based meats at large. Currently these products are described as savory 35% less often than the animal products. And they're described as having a weird aftertaste or off flavor five to six times more often than their animal counterparts. As we look at plant-based meat as a whole, flavor is definitely still needing some improvement. And then we also saw that texture is really the secondary opportunity. So, plant-based meats were described as juicy 62% less often than the animal products. And there's a big need to increase tenderness and reduce mushiness. So that's why I was mentioning there are some categories like burgers and nuggets where we had multiple winner products and those products have had a lot of R&D done on them. Their texture is a little bit easier to replicate than something like whole cut steak or bacon or pulled pork. You talked about some of the difficulties when you look at different sensory aspects. And I'm interested to understand what some of the key challenges are facing the alternative protein industry in terms of improving taste of the plant-based meats. And how can NECTAR's database help address these challenges? Yes, I think the key opportunity here is that NECTAR's data provides a roadmap for each product to improve. So, it might be the case that a certain product actually performed well on flavor but needs to improve its texture. Our research can really help you pinpoint exactly what it is about your texture that needs to change. So maybe it's, you know, reducing that mushiness or increasing firmness. And I think overall for the entire category of plant-based meat, it's what we were just talking about, flavor is sort of the biggest opportunity. And then closely followed by texture. But it does seem to vary quite a bit within each category for each product. And we saw on the whole, there was a wide range of ingredients and production methods used. So, we tested the category of unbreaded chicken filet. Within that category, we had extruded products, soy-based products, pea based products, mycelium products. And there were multiple products in that category that were all winners using each of those different techniques and ingredients. But they all have their own slight differences and tweaks that need to be made to meet mainstream consumer expectations. Oh, this is fascinating. And I have to say, we haven't had many opportunities to talk about how alternative proteins or products are actually produced. Thank you for sharing that. You know what's really interesting, you've touched on this a little bit, but I think there's a little more that we can learn from you on this. So, your research highlights that some plant-based products like nuggets are approaching taste parody with their animal counterparts. Are there specific factors that contribute to the success and how can these insights be applied to other product categories? So, the Taste of the Industry 2025 is a second annual report that NECTAR has released. In our 2024 research, we found that breaded products tended to outperform unbreaded ones. So, we actually saw similar success from the nugget category in this year's research. But on the whole, I think we see that texture is much easier to replicate for some categories and nuggets is one of those. The other would be burgers where all of the products are ground and so it's much easier to replicate that with existing technologies than to replicate things like muscle fibers for whole cut steak. We did find four products that are within striking distance of achieving parody. And two of those products were nuggets. One of them was a burger, and the last was an unbreaded chicken filet. And as I mentioned, I think we'll see next year one of these products achieve parody or surpass the animal product in overall liking. But on the whole, we see that chicken is an easier flavor to replicate than beef and pork. And so, we saw more products from the chicken categories that were winners this year than from the other types of animal based meat. Looking forward, how do you envision NECTAR's work impacting the broader food industry? Particularly in terms of driving innovation and adoption of plant-based products among consumers who are honestly hesitant due to taste concerns. We really believe that tasting is believing. So, we are using this data to drive stakeholders across the supply chain towards the best tasting products so that they taste it and they immediately are sold on the product. So that means we're working with retailers and food service buyers to help direct them towards the best tasting products. And even consumers we have an Instagram page and a consumer facing lens where we're trying to show them which products taste great and help with the demand side for the industry. And then we really see chefs in food service as the beachhead market for alternative proteins. I think it's an easier sell to have someone try a delicious plant-based product on a menu or in a cafeteria. And then want to go home and replicate that experience after having a really positive experience out in the world. Okay. So how do you see the broader industry, from meat producers to policymakers to retailers, using the dataset that you all are constructing? We see that as sort of no matter your role in the industry, this data can support your efforts. So, for brand and manufacturers, we're hoping that they'll embrace an iterative taste centric product development approach. And the report offers pre-competitive sensory insights to provide a roadmap for focused innovation where we feel like it matters most. As I mentioned for retailers and food service operators, we want them to recognize their crucial role as venues for consumer discovery and to help them prioritize products on shelf and on menus that really deliver on these taste claims. And then for investors and funders, we see alternative protein as a true climate solution. And so we want them to consider the outsized impact potential of plant-based products that are able to achieve mainstream adoption through superior taste and really double down on their efforts there. And then lastly, we are working with researchers and academics that can build upon NECTAR's foundational work and use our data sets to advance the understanding of consumer preferences and sensory science. We're actually working with some researchers currently to build a large language model tool that will ingest the sensory data and suggest specific experiments to improve the sensory aspects of those products. So, it'll basically be a food scientist's best friend and be able to reduce the number of benchtop trials needed to get to a better outcome. Wow, that's really fascinating. And I think there's something that I want to highlight. Because you all are a nonprofit, the data that you're generating is being made publicly available. Is that a fair statement? That's correct. Yes, so we have a whole digital dashboard where you can look at all of the category level data. You can see how the average product performed, how the leading product in that category performed, and how the animal benchmark product in each category performed. And we provide insight into what are the biggest opportunities for improvement at a category level. And then we also share the data on an individual brand's performance with that brand so that they can make improvements themselves. May I ask, how did you get buy-in from the industry to allow their products to be considered? We make sure that there's only upside for participating, so we only publish the brand names of brands that are top performers. And we do a lot of marketing and PR support for those top performers. We provide them with a marketing credential for the Tasty Awards that they can use on sell sheets and to socialize their products with the larger consumer base. If the products were not top performers, we don't publish the name of the brand. But as I mentioned we do provide that data to them so that they can have a roadmap for how to improve their product and hopefully be Tasty Award winners next year. Okay, great. So I want to wrap up by asking where do you see hope in the plant-based industry in the next five years? Yes, to be honest, it's been a little bleak for the plant-based meat space for the last few years. And so, we founded NECTAR because we believe that there are great tasting products out there and we want to bring some hope and inspiration back to this industry. Our goal is that in five years all of the products on shelf will meet consumer taste expectations. And we're really able to show that products could be both sustainable and delicious and crave worthy, and that consumers will demand them. We have started to see that with the 20 products that really rose to the top. And our goal is that you know, all of the products are sort of meeting that threshold when we're through here. We're also seeing hope in that there's a lot of positive research around plant-based defaults on menus. So, hospitals and universities are starting to put plant-based options on the menu as the default. And I think that is especially supported by great tasting products. If people, as I mentioned, have a positive experience out in the world, hopefully that will continue to get that snowball effect and demand generation going. And we're also seeing some hope with a new category called balanced protein, which are products that combine some conventional animal meat with plant-based ingredients in the same product.  NECTAR actually conducted a taste test of balanced proteins this fall and found that in two categories, burgers and nuggets, balanced products actually outperformed their animal counterparts. And so, kind of like the hybrid car, we're hoping that the balanced protein will sort of get the hardcore meat skeptics on board and help ultimately move us towards a more plant-based future. And if there's anybody listening that wants to access our data or partner with us, we definitely welcome those conversations. BIO   Caroline Cotto is a Director at Food System Innovations (FSI) where she leads NECTAR, an initiative accelerating the protein transition with taste. By conducting large-scale sensory panels of alternative protein products and operationalizing the resulting data, NECTAR aims to create category-level value and empower stakeholders to make sensory-informed decisions. Prior to FSI, Caroline co-founded Renewal Mill, an award-winning upcycled food startup. She served as the inaugural board president of the Upcycled Food Association, the world's first trade association for upcycled brands. She regularly mentors food, tech, and circular economy startups. Caroline studied at Georgetown University and served as a Fulbright Fellow. She has been named to both Forbes 30 Under 30 and the 50 NEXT lists.

Imagine a world where food waste becomes a valuable resource! Lydia Oxley, President of Renewal Mill, reveals how her company turns industrial byproducts into nutritious ingredients, fighting food waste and promoting sustainability.

Caroline Cotto is the Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Renewal Mill, a venture-backed startup creating a new circular economy of food by upcycling the byproducts of food manufacturing into ingredients. A food marketing and nutrition specialist, Caroline has experience at the UN World Food Programme in Cambodia, the White House (for Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative), Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator, and HubSpot, where she ran the women's diversity program globally. Caroline grew up in food, working for her family's ice cream business in the town of Sandwich, MA. Caroline serves as the Board President of the Upcycled Food Association, and formerly served as a Fulbright Fellow in Taiwan.In This Conversation We Discuss: (50 Characters)[00:00] Intro[01:00] What is Renewal Mill?[01:41] Validating the idea for Renewal Mill[03:06] Renewal Mill's first product[04:32] Workarounds of introducing a new product[05:04] Renewal Mill's ideation process and timeline [05:43] How Renewal Mill entered the Ecommerce space[06:15] Driving awareness for upcycled food[06:58] Renewal Mill's B2B go-to market strategy[07:50] Considering B2C to generate short-term revenue[12:59] Challenges of being a new B2C business[13:40] Two ways Renewal Mill overcame the challenges[14:17] Driving traffic to their website through partnerships[14:59] Partnerships are both a win and a challenge[15:38] Finding ways to stand out from other brands[16:00] Brand advocacies vs what consumers actually care about[16:28] Tailor brand messages to appeal to customers[16:57] Leveraging upcycling as their Unique Selling Point[17:31] The power of interviewing your customers[18:12] Know where customers live online and offline[18:45] Staying in traditional retail for impulse buyers[19:21] Limited offers to reel in loyal customers[20:00] Where to support Renewal MillResources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on YoutubeUpcycled, crave-worthy, & climate-friendly food renewalmill.comFollow Caroline linkedin.com/in/carolinecotto/Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connectTake your retail business to the next level today shopify.com/honestSign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial periodSchedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honestIf you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Caroline Cotto is co-founder and CEO of Renewal Mill, an upcycled food company that works with byproducts from plant-based milk such as soybean pulp, oat pulp, and almond pulp, that are dried and milled to produce ingredients that are rich in nutrients. In this episode, Julie Gallagher, director of content at SFA, talks with Cotto about the history of upcycling, collaborations with other women-owned brands, and how specialty food businesses can get involved in the space.Spill & Dish is Powered by Simplecast.

Did you know that up to 40% of food in the USA goes to waste every year? In this episode of Evolve CPG, Caroline Cotto is here to discuss how conscious consumers and brands can fight this problem. Caroline is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Renewal Mill, President of the Upcycled Food Association, and she also is passionate about all things health, wellness and, food! Finding partners with the same mission is imperative and today, Caroline shares how her company found success with the help of theirs. We also discuss the importance of making sustainability a factor in the food that we buy before discussing how upcycling food is healthier for us and the planet. So to hear more about how to fight food waste and ultimately, climate change, tune in now!Key Points From This Episode:The mission and vision of Renewal Mill to consider the health of people and the planet.Why Renewal Mill wants to make sustainability sexy. The products Renewal Mill used to market their upcycled ingredients. How Renewal Mill found their partners and why they're key for the company. How marketing influences choices and who Renewal Mill is marketing their products to.What Renewal Mill's partnership focus is for the future. How upcycled food has become popular and where Caroline thinks it's going in the future. Why conscious consumers/brands must ask questions and demand better for our food.The importance of communicating to consumers in a truthful manner.Where Caroline's passion for food and nutrition came from.Caroline's research on what influences children's food choices. All about Caroline's involvement in the Upcycled Food Association. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:Caroline CottoCaroline Cotto on LinkedInCaroline Cotto on TwitterCaroline Cotto on InstagramRenewal MillUpcycled Food AssociationClaire Schlemme on LinkedInHodo FoodsClimate Designers - ClimifyClimify on Apple PodcastsClimify on SpotifyClimify on Instgram Modern Species Gage Mitchell on LinkedInEvolve CPGEvolve CPG CommunityEvolve CPG on YouTubeEvolve CPG email

Hi everyone! Doone here - your host and hype girl. Thank you for tuning in to my solo episode this week.  Today, I want to dive into the blueprint of what it means to build a truly sustainable brand in 2022. To do this we're learning from 7 guests we've had on the show who are putting the planet first. These are the brands leading the charge into a future where sustainability will be the rule over the exception. It's super relevant for any biz builders out there, because if you're not incorporating the planet into your business model moving forward, you will be left behind. 66% of executives already believe a sustainability strategy to be a necessity in the market today, with 60% of consumers listing it as an important purchase criteria. I'm so sure that these numbers are only going to rise as we continue to feel to the harsh impact of climate change on our beautiful blue planet.  While this is so much more than a passing fashion trend, there is no denying that sustainability has become a bit of a buzz word in recent years. It's become so prolific it almost feels we're losing touch with both how serious we should be taking it, and just how difficult it is to properly achieve. I'm proud to have had these women on the show both open my eyes to the reality of the industry, and help us navigate how to go about this the right way. Let's jump straight into it. Here's are 7 key learnings from brands that are truly putting the planet first.  We learn from Kester Black founder Anna Ross about how you should incorporate sustainability in your business model from the get-go. From Charlotte Pienaar from Everyday Humans we're reminded about the importance of focusing on the nitty gritty of the supply chain. Renewal Mill's Caroline Cotto highlights the importance of finding your sustainability tribe along this journey. For Chippin' founder Haley Russel it's all about joining forces with your community to bring your product to life. In chatting to Isabel Aagaard from LastObject we're reminded of the importance of true passion in what you're building, whilst Blueland founder Sarah Paiji Yoo puts the greatest emphasis on the power of educating and empowering people to make better lifestyle choices. We round off the solo episode with a learnings from Repurpose founder Lauren Gropper on how to go the long-mile and not give up before you've reached your goals.  Let's get straight to it! This is me, for Female Startup Club. LINKS WE MENTION: Anna Ross' LinkedIn Kester Black's Instagram Charlotte Chen Pienaar's Instagram Everyday Humans Instagram Caroline Cotto's Instagram Renewal Mill's Instagram  Haley Russel's Instagram Chippin' Instagram Isabel Aagaard's Instagram Last Object's Instagram Sarah Paiji Yoo's Instagram Blueland's Instagram  Lauren Gropper's Instagram Repurpose Instagram  SIGN UP FOR 1800-HYPEGIRL HOTLINE HERE: femalestartupclub.norby.live Female Startup Club's Instagram   Doone's Instagram   Doone's TikTok   To redeem 1 month free of Norby's Basic Plan use code "FSC" here: https://join.nor.by/   Learn more about Dymo at Dymo.com   In partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for eCommerce businesses   Female Startup Club's YouTubeFemale Startup Club's Private Facebook Group   Say hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.com   Female Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/female-star

Today we're interviewing Caroline Cotto, COO and Co-Founder of Renewal Mill. I've wanted Caroline on for a long time cause I think Renewal Mill is a super cool company that's always doing amazing things. We've met a multitude of times during conferences and it's always nice seeing her. In this interview, we talk about how Carlone got into the food industry, her try-all journey at Renewal Mill, and you learn a lot about Upcycle, how it's evolved in the past five year,s and a new and trending certification that shows upcycled food in bright light. Shownotes: http://myfoodjobrocks.com/248Caroline

Caroline Cotto is a young global leader who's revolutionizing the food waste industry. The Co-Founder and COO of Renewal Mill, Fulbright Fellow to the UN's World Food Program, White House intern for Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative, and champion for cultural exchange, shares her journey of resilience, innovation and advocacy in reducing food waste. Her unconventional path started at a tender age, her parents' ice cream shop sparked an interest in food and its life cycle- from the point of origin to serving it to others. Armed with an educational background in Human Sciences with a focus in Nutrition, Caroline set out to tackle the world's biggest contributor to climate change- food waste. She co-founded Renewal Mills, a start-up that 'upcycles' food byproducts into a line of nutritional baking staples. In this podcast Caroline shares insights into the challenges and successes in this industry, the importance of diversity in effecting change, and her partnerships with food stakeholders to make nutritious food more accessible. Check out Caroline's website: https://www.renewalmill.com/ Follow Caroline on Twitter: and Instagram: @Renewal Mill FOLLOW PARALYSIS TO PURPOSE Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paral2Purpose Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paralysis2purpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paralysis2purpose TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@paralysis2purpose Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/hzE5n9 FOLLOW OUR HOST, DAVID COOKS Twitter: https://twitter.com/dcespeaks Instagram: https://instagram.com/dcespeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dcespeaks Website: https://davidcooksspeaks.com Listen in for stories of growth, change, and discovery by both individuals and corporations on their journeys from Paralysis to Purpose. http://paralysis2purpose.com/

Listen to our discussion with Claire Schlemme, Co-Founder and CEO at Renewal Mill, to learn more about the fight against climate change and global food loss. Renewal Mill focuses on environmental impact through its efforts in upcycling byproducts in food manufacturing into superfood ingredients and premium plant-based pantry samples.

Thank you for tuning into "Starting Small", a podcast about brand development, entrepreneurship, and innovation in the modern world. In this episode, I am joined by Caroline Cotto of Renewal Mill, upcycling byproducts from food manufacturing into premium and delicious ingredients and products. Before launching Renewal Mill, Caroline worked at the White House for First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign and the United Nations World Food Program, ultimately having a direct impact on the launch of Renewal Mill. Make sure to check out Renewal Mill at: https://www.renewalmill.com/   Follow Starting Small: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startingsmallpod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Startingsmallpod/?modal=admin_todo_tour LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/cameronnagle   Thank you to this episode it's mid break sponsor, Parachute, offering premium bedding and bath essentials. Looking for an upgrade in your towels for example? A bath bundle is the easiest way to upgrade your bathroom and self-care routine.  Winding down from a long, stressful day can be relieved after washing and drying off with the right towel. The smooth, soft, and absorbent feeling of Parachute towels is incomparable to anything I have ever felt. With multiple color options, the bath bundle not only feels great, but aesthetically brings your bathroom to life. Not to mention that parachute offers free shipping and returns within the US and Canada. Make sure to check them out at https://www.parachutehome.com/    

Caroline Cotto is the Co-Founder & COO of Renewal Mill, a venture-backed startup creating a new circular economy of food by upcycling the byproducts of food manufacturing into premium ingredients and plant-based pantry staples. A food marketing and nutrition specialist, Caroline has experience at the UN World Food Programme, the White House (for Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative), Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator, and HubSpot, where she ran the women's diversity program globally. Caroline grew up in food, working for her family's ice cream business in the town of Sandwich, MA. She serves as the inaugural Board President of the Upcycled Food Association, and formerly served as a Fulbright Fellow in Taiwan.Laurel Mintz, founder and CEO of award-winning marketing agency Elevate My Brand, explores some of the most exciting new and growing brands in Los Angeles and the US at large. Each week, the Elevate Your Brand podcast features an entrepreneurial special guest to discuss the past, present and future of their brand.

In this episode, I have a conversation with Claire Schlemme, one of the co-founders of Renewal Mill - a company that upcycles food waste into baking flour - with tasty ingredients to make brownies, cookies, and muffins.

Omsom is one of the most publicized and respected food startups in recent memory, and for good reason.  Launched in May 2020 by sisters and first-generation Vietnamese-Americans Vanessa and Kim Pham, Omsom markets chef-crafted starter kits that the company describes as “pantry shortcuts for specific Asian dishes” that include sauces, aromatics and seasonings all in a single package. A consumer combines the starter with protein and/or vegetables to create a finished dish. Since its debut, Omsom has captured the attention of consumer and trade media with its dazzling labels (the brand picked up a Best Package Design award from NOSH last year) and innovative approach to at-home meal prep. The company's most notable aspect, however, is the story of its founders and their vision to break long-standing barriers in how ethnic food is perceived and sold. In an interview featured in this episode, Vanessa Pham joined us for an expansive conversation about Omsom's mission and business philosophy, why she and Kim set out to build a brand for all consumers and the reason they don't use the word “authentic” when describing Omsom or its products. Vanessa also spoke about the company's retail and merchandising strategy, how the team is attempting to align buyers with their vision for the future of grocery, their PR strategy and why it has been effective in attracting national media attention and why she is bullish about greater financial investment in BIPOC-owned brands.  This episode also includes a short interview with Caroline Cotto, the co-founder and COO of Renewal Mill, a brand of baking ingredients, mixes and sweet snacks made from upcycled byproducts of food production. Cotto joined us for a conversation about the Renewal Mill's origins and vision, multi-pronged approach to product development, its alignment with brands of a similar focus and how the company is positioning itself to be the go-to supplier for upcycled food ingredients. Show notes: 0:52: Interview: Vanessa Pham, Co-Founder & CEO, Omsom -- Following a brief chat about her recent croissant-laden respite, Pham spoke with Taste Radio editor Ray Latif about the inspiration for and meaning behind Omsom, her parents' influence on the brand's creation and the role her experience working at Bain & Co. played in the company's emergence. Pham also explained why she and her sister/co-founder Kim chose starter kits as the brand's inaugural product line and why observers may be mistaken into thinking the company has a niche focus, the extensive research that went into Omsom's development and why the company uses the term “cultural integrity” instead of “authentic.” Later, she discussed the target consumer for Omsom, the ideal retail placement for its products, the company's approach to bridging the gap between online and brick-and-mortar retail, how the PR strategy and resulting media coverage inherently tie into Omsom's vision and her recommendations on how financial organizations can increase funding for women and minority-led businesses. 47:24: Interview: Caroline Cotto, Co-Founder & COO, Renewal Mill -- In an interview recorded at Natural Products Expo East 2021, Latif sat down with Cotto to talk about Renewal Mill's product portfolio, retail footprint and how the company's marketing and communication strategy has evolved since its launch. She also discussed the brand's innovation pipeline, which leans on “familiar vehicles to introduce novel ingredients,” as well as its approach to co-branding partnerships and the company's pricing strategy. Later, Cotto explained Renewal Mill's thoughtful growth strategy and why she expects its ingredient business to be the primary focus in the future and her background prior to founding the company.  Brands in this episode: Omsom, Renewal Mill, Siete, Recess, Tia Lupita, Pulp Pantry, Fancypants Baking Co., Simple Mills

**This episode is brought to you by MuteSix, StoreYa, and Justuno**   To reduce food waste and fight climate change - that's the mission of Renewal Mill. Today, we feature Caroline Cotto, COO of Renewal Mill, an upcycle food company. Caroline, Co-founder of Renewal Mill, realized that Wastage was happening across all parts of the supply chain within food manufacturing. This realization was the catalyst for launching the brand. Their vision and mission: “To create a new circular economy of food that closes the loop in today's current supply chains, keeps valuable nutrition from going to waste, and reduces our impact on the environment.” In 2019, they helped to start the Upcycling Food Association. Upcycling is making sure that food is put to its best and highest use. She says upcycling allows them to make something out of the excess and byproduct of food manufacturing. She talked about: * Gratefulness * Overview of the brand * Upcycling Defined * How the Co-Founders got the Idea * What got her excited about upcycling * Hurdles with tofu byproduct * The reaction of their partners * Their products Join Ramon Vela and Caroline Cotto as they break down the inside story on The Story of a Brand. For more on Renewal Mill, visit: https://www.renewalmill.com/ Subscribe and Listen to the podcast on all major apps. Simply search for “The Story of a Brand.” Click here to listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify. * OUR SHOW IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF MUTESIX. MuteSix is the leading agency in performance marketing. They have been in this space for nearly eight years, growing and scaling the world's most recognizable e-commerce brands with breakthrough creative, targeted media buying, and data-driven results in every step of the funnel. They're currently offering listeners a FREE omnichannel marketing audit. Their team of auditors will perform a deep dive analysis into your current marketing efforts and identify which strategies might be budget wasters and which strategies will improve performance. The audit covers all digital marketing channels, including Facebook, Google, Email, Amazon, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, Influencer, Programmatic, and Website CRO. For your free digital marketing consultation, visit: http://www.mutesix.com/storyofabrand * This episode is also brought to you by StoreYa. If managing your ads drives you crazy, and you're all about automating your ecom business, then you have to give StoreYa a try! StoreYa will Launch, Optimize & Scale your ads on Google, Facebook & Instagram...WITHOUT YOU having to do ANYTHING Their powerful AI will optimize your campaigns 24/7, delivering the best ads to the right customers... They are a Google & Facebook Partner that supports over 400,000 merchants! To get started and enjoy a 33% discount for the first month, simply visit www.StoreYa.com/Story * This episode is also brought to you by Justuno. Worried about hitting your revenue goals this month? Make the most of your website traffic with Justuno - the #1 CRO tool for thriving e-commerce sites. Grow your email and SMS lists, show smart product recommendations to increase your average order value, improve return on ad spend, and so much more. Justuno helps you convert more website visitors into sales. Visit https://www.justuno.com/ramon/ for a free 14-day trial, one-click install on Shopify, and 15% off with the code RAMON.

**This episode is brought to you by MuteSix, StoreYa, and Justuno**   Reach for more sustainable options, says Caroline Cotto, COO of Renewal Mill, in the second half of this Feature. She points out that it's essential to educate consumers. In their case, education was a challenge because people had never heard of upcycling. So, she advises other brands to find their community and use collective actions to further momentum. Caroline gives an account of the timeline of the Renewal Mill. In 2016, the brand was started. In 2018, they commercialized their first ingredient, and last year right before the pandemic, they launched their baking mix. The newest addition is a brownie mix launched in March of 2021. Renewal Mill wants to continue adding new ingredients to its portfolio. It's always interested in what people want and what's missing in the market. In part 2, Caroline talks about: * Advice for those trying to build sustainable brands * Promotion in pandemic * When they launched * Plant-based products * Retails * Video content * Her message Join Ramon Vela and Caroline Cotto as they break down the inside story on The Story of a Brand. For more on Renewal Mill, visit: https://www.renewalmill.com/ Subscribe and Listen to the podcast on all major apps. Simply search for “The Story of a Brand.” Click here to listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify. * OUR SHOW IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF MUTESIX. MuteSix is the leading agency in performance marketing. They have been in this space for nearly eight years, growing and scaling the world's most recognizable e-commerce brands with breakthrough creative, targeted media buying, and data-driven results in every step of the funnel. They're currently offering listeners a FREE omnichannel marketing audit. Their team of auditors will perform a deep dive analysis into your current marketing efforts and identify which strategies might be budget wasters and which strategies will improve performance. The audit covers all digital marketing channels, including Facebook, Google, Email, Amazon, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, Influencer, Programmatic, and Website CRO. For your free digital marketing consultation, visit: http://www.mutesix.com/storyofabrand * This episode is also brought to you by StoreYa. If managing your ads drives you crazy, and you're all about automating your ecom business, then you have to give StoreYa a try! StoreYa will Launch, Optimize & Scale your ads on Google, Facebook & Instagram...WITHOUT YOU having to do ANYTHING Their powerful AI will optimize your campaigns 24/7, delivering the best ads to the right customers... They are a Google & Facebook Partner that supports over 400,000 merchants! To get started and enjoy a 33% discount for the first month, simply visit www.StoreYa.com/Story * This episode is also brought to you by Justuno. Worried about hitting your revenue goals this month? Make the most of your website traffic with Justuno - the #1 CRO tool for thriving e-commerce sites. Grow your email and SMS lists, show smart product recommendations to increase your average order value, improve return on ad spend, and so much more. Justuno helps you convert more website visitors into sales. Visit https://www.justuno.com/ramon/ for a free 14-day trial, one-click install on Shopify, and 15% off with the code RAMON.

In this special Innovation Fund episode Part 2, we meet the Founders from three more of the companies in the 2021 cohort, Kathryn Burnell Founder of reBLEND (starts at 03:35) Matt Olsofsky Co-Founder of Take Two Foods (starts at 23:39), and Claire Schlemme and Caroline Cotto Co-Founders of Renewal Mill. (starts at 44:53) In spring of 2021, The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation collaborated with Village Capital to help source, understand and unlock capital to support innovative solutions that prevent, recover and recycle food waste. They encouraged applications from innovators building high-growth, scalable solutions focused on the following challenge: “We seek to reshape the food system by supporting innovators who are elevating food to its highest use and disrupting the linear supply chain. This could include solutions such as imperfect produce lines, upcycled foods & meal kits, upcycled commercial ingredients and more.” With nearly 150 companies applying, 10 were selection for the 2021 Innovation Fund cohort. Over the next few episodes we will be introducing you to all of the companies in the 2021 cohort. Meet the companies in the 2021 Innovation Fund Cohort: Agua Bonita Grain4Grain Husky Beverages Journey Foods Matriark Foods NETZRO reBLEND Renewal Mill Take Two The Spare Food Co. Visit www.toogoodtowastepodcast.com for all episodes and to learn more about the Too good To waste podcast series. Follow us on Instagram @toogoodtowaste_podcast Thanks to our sponsors: NETZRO, SBC - www.netzro.us Upcycled Food Association - www.upcycledfood.org Produced by Hi-Fly'n Productions www.hiflyn.com Producer | Host: Kevin May Associate Producer | Ashley Brown Creative Development | Sue Marshall What's UP Co-Host | Rochelle Still Contact us at kevin@toogoodtowastepodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/toogoodtowaste/message

Caroline Cotto is the Co-Founder & COO of Renewal Mill, an upcycled food company fighting climate change. Azora Zoe Paknad is the Founder of Goldune, a new e-commerce brand and marketplace making sustainability more fun, more inclusive and more digestible. On this episode of ITS, Ali and her guests talk about expanding the consumer perception of sustainability, driving people toward more conscious consumption in a more inclusive way, and what founders can do to build real sustainability into their cultures early on.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support In The Sauce by becoming a member!In The Sauce is Powered by Simplecast.

Led by Claire Schlemme Renewal Mill reduces food waste by upcycling the byproduct of plant-based milk to create high-quality Okara flour and baking mixes. The company's Okara flour is used in products made by other plant-based food makers while its baking mixes are sold directly through its website. Claire summarized Renewal Mill's business saying, "Renewal Mill is an upcycle food company. We upcycle byproducts from food manufacturing into superfood ingredients and premium pantry staples. We are currently working with the pulp residue from plant-based milk. This pulp material is nutritious and has a lot of fiber and protein. This leftover pulp is often wasted and certainly not processed and upcycled at scale as we are attempting to do. For soy milk residue, we dry out the pulp and produce it as “okara,” which has an East Asian heritage. For oat milk, we perform a similar process and brand the material as upcycled oat protein flour. Our goal is to ultimately move beyond the plant-based milk space and continue to capture otherwise wasted sources of fiber and protein. There are numerous opportunities to do this in the tomato and potato spaces in particular." Claire spoke to the importance of mission alignment in seeking outside capital saying, "For the first two years, the company was funded through grants from both Yale and the Closed Loop Foundation. We recently received funding from Kroger as part of their Zero Hunger Initiative. We have also employed more traditional forms of capital raises with convertible and SAFE notes. Our funding sources have been mostly in the impact space. When we first incorporated the company, we did so as a public-benefit corporation, which I believe has been powerful in filtering our potential investor list to the most mission-aligned subset. We have received funding from traditional waste-to-value investors as well as an investor that focuses on plant-based food systems." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We're on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message

Have you heard about Upcycling? Join us for a crash course in all things food waste. In this episode we talk with Caroline Cotto, the cofounder and COO of Renewal Mill, an ingredient, mix, and cookie company that is taking a new approach to the circular food economy.  Caroline goes deep into the issues of food waste and how Renewal Mill, and the new Upcycled Food Association, are bringing attention and money into the food renewal space.Renewal MillUpcycled Food AssociationRePurpose Global, for plastic offsets

Planet Driven Brands Podcast David Benzaquen. David is a global leader in the plant-based food market. Mission: Plant is a holding company advancing the plant-based foods industry with strategic investments and consulting services. David has literally been one of the key catalysts in the growth of plant-based food in the USA over the last decade. Now he's sharing his wisdom and experience with us! David's journey is fascinating and explains his passion for the sustainability of the planet and the protection of animals. From his roots in consumer insight he has run successful food start-ups and here he gives us a heads-up and tips on how to get to market. He also describes his innovative and unique plant-based/sustainable consumer panel - The Moonshot Collaborative - and ruminates on food waste and how the likes of Renewal Mill, Hodo Soy Beanery and Spero Foods are leaders of a revolution in this space. David is a true advocate of how we can all make small steps to enact major change. As he says: "Every single time we go to the supermarket we can make a choice with our dollar to do something good for the world, good for our health, good for the planet and good for animals" Here, in the Planet Driven Brands Podcast David Benzaquen shares his wisdom, passion and desire to create a world that is kind and fair for everyone. I think you'll love it and I certainly enjoyed the chat :) If you'd like to meet David digitally, here is his LinkedIn profile About The Podcast The planet driven brands podcast is a library of thought leadership on brands and their responsibility to the welfare of the planet. We are about changing the world, one brand at a time. It may sound a little pretentious, but it is a real belief. We know brands have positive impacts on consumers and we want to bottle that! We will highlight brands as drivers for change and the role they play as influencers. This is a library of useful content for all to share. It's our small contribution. If you enjoyed this please do tell someone! If you'd like to subscribe please do so here: SUBSCRIBE Recruiting Thought Leaders We want to attract the best guests to come and tell us how we can harness the power of brands to help us build a better planets for all – people, animals, plants, the oceans – you get the drift! It may be a lofty aim; who knows, let's find out. If you'd like to come on the show, I'd love to hear from you Nic is a brand consultant and has over 30 years experience with brands across agencies, consultancies and brand owners – here's the LinkedIn profile! Here's the RSS feed for the podcast should you wish to copy it! If you have any comments please get in touch. The same goes if you want to come and chat to us and be a star of our show Thanks for listening to the Planet Driven Brands Podcast David Benzaquen

This week https://www.cohnreznick.com/people/helana_huddleston (Helena Huddleston), Parter, CohnReznick, talks to http://www.eatcoolbeans.com/ (Tyler Mayoras), Co-Founder and CEO of Cool Beans on his journey as an impact investor to entrepreneur and where he see's the future of food.  After a 20-year career in private equity investing and consulting. Mr. Mayoras has been focused on sustainable food and agriculture during the past 10 years.  Prior to joining Cool Bean, Mr. Mayoras was a principal in the Advantage Capital Food and Agriculture Fund where he led transactions in Shenandoah Growers, Navitas Organics, Farmhouse Culture and Snaxsational Brands (Snack Pop and Pasta Chips). Tyler is also an angel investor and mentor with investments in Simple Mills, Spero Foods, Atomo Coffee, Lavva, Renewal Mill, Tiesta Tea and Cool Beans.  http://www.eatcoolbeans.com (www.eatcoolbeans.com) IG: @luvcoolbeans Twitter: @eatcoolbeans Support this podcast

In this episode of The Physical Product Movement, we're joined by Claire Schlemme, Co-founder & CEO at Renewal Mill. Claire shares her learnings from founding an organic juice company, recognizing the large amount of food waste produced and seeing an opportunity to reuse or upcycle these byproducts. In addition, Claire shares the importance today's consumers are placing on sustainability as part of their purchasing criteria, her journey from finding a product to focus on, figuring out the manufacturing process and taking these products to market online and through retail partnerships.

In this episode of The Physical Product Movement, we're joined by Claire Schlemme, Co-founder & CEO at Renewal Mill. Claire shares her learnings from founding an organic juice company, recognizing the large amount of food waste produced and seeing an opportunity to reuse or upcycle these byproducts. In addition, Claire shares the importance today's consumers are placing on sustainability as part of their purchasing criteria, her journey from finding a product to focus on, figuring out the manufacturing process and taking these products to market online and through retail partnerships.

Joining me on the show today is Caroline Cotto, Co-Founder of Renewal Mill. Named a World Changing Idea by Fast Company, Renewal Mill is an award-winning, next-generation ingredient company that fights climate change and global food loss by upcycling byproducts from food manufacturing into premium ingredients and products.In this episode you’ll learn how Caroline’s been driving growth through LinkedIn as her primary channel, innovative ways to get startup capital and specific slack channels anyone in the food industry should join. LINKS WE MENTION: Renewal Mill's InstagramCaroline's InstagramFemale Startup Club's Instagram In partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses.Website: Tech Stars – accelerator programs for entrepreneursWebsite: Upcycled Food Association - nonprofit focused on reducing food waste by growing the upcycled food economy.Community: Start Up CPG - community for emerging brands and those who support themCommunity: Natural Bay AreaNewsletter : Food Tech ConnectCommunity: ClubhousePromo code: FIGHTFOODWASTE for 15% off order, one use per customer 

Renewal Mill is making upcycling easier. For consumers, for suppliers and for the entire upcycle community. Food Founder Caroline Cotto shares how Renewal Mill has worked to not only sell a product to consumers, but also to other manufacturers who can use the product as an ingredient. As the company has grown its focus has shifted to new branding, raising capital and expanding the team’s overall mindset and goals. Learn more about Renewal Mill here https://www.renewalmill.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Solving the problem of food waste and creating new products based on upcycled food was the type of project Caroline Cotto was meant to work on. As someone who has intentionally sought out challenging experiences since high school, Caroline is determined to live on the side of impact and adventure.  Today, Caroline is the COO of Renewal Mill, a next generation ingredients company that's reducing food waste by upcycling the byproducts of food manufacturing into high quality ingredients and products. In our conversation, Caroline shares how her career decisions, family influences, traveling and love of food led her to Renewal Mill. Renewal Mill Whole Foods names upcycled foods and Renewal Mills' upcycled flours a Top 10 Food Trend for 2021 Named World Changing Idea by Fast Company  Featured on PBS Newshour Follow us @meantforit If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and please subscribe for future episodes.    

Join us for a conversation with Claire Schlemme and Caroline Cotto, Cofounders of Renewal Mill. Committed to finding solutions at the intersection of food, sustainability, and accessible nutrition, Renewal Mill is an award-winning startup creating a new circular economy of food by upcycling the byproducts of food manufacturing into premium ingredients & plant-based products. Their signature product is okara flour, made from the byproducts of tofu and soy milk manufacturing.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Why Food? by becoming a member!Why Food? is Powered by Simplecast.

We talk dried fruit, with the rinds, DTC, local grocery launches, next innovations and upcycled byproducts.

Renewal Mill is a next-generation ingredient company that fights climate change and global food loss by upcycling byproducts from food manufacturing into premium ingredients and products. More about this episode: https://eftp.co/renewal-mill Learn how Eat For The Planet can help your brand: https://eftp.co/services

Nina Meijers of Rabobank’s FoodBytes! and Claire Schlemme of Renewal Mill are joining us to talk about building 21st century food businesses. We’re talking to Nina and Claire side by side to understand how FoodBytes supports innovation and the opportunity for entrepreneurs. It’s a conversation on the diversity of ideas, technology, and products that characterize future food enterprises, the collaborations that enable innovation, and how the Covid crisis is accelerating the pace of change. As one of the largest banks in the world and a global leader in food and agriculture lending, Rabobank has a clear interest in ensuring we get out ahead of global food security challenges. FoodBytes! is Rabobank’s innovation arm, bringing together startups, large companies and investors through Pitch, a startup discovery platform, and Pilot, a corporate innovation program. Renewal Mill, a FoodBytes alum, captures and upcycles the large volumes of food production by products into pantry staples and value-added foods. Renewal Mill is our case study to learn how the journeys of FoodBytes! alumni weave together through peer collaborations, and opportunities to pilot projects with large industry players.Our conversation explores how both of these organizations are taking on the Covid crisis full throttle, and what they are learning in the process. Their number one takeaway: Covid has exposed the pre-existing fissures in our food system. The need to address food accessibility, shorten supply chains, and decrease food loss is visible to all, providing a mandate to build a better system. We’re talking about adapting sales channels and strategies, fundraising, and fresh insights on the factors prompting consumers to try new products. And explore how FoodBytes! is plunging boldly into taking their Pitch program virtual, redesigning to engage a global audience and create substantive connection.For those of you itching to take action, FoodBytes! Pitch is accepting applications through August 10. We’re talking about the opportunities for entrepreneurs--with Claire’s advice on how to navigate the process-- the ways investors and major companies can engage, and the kinds of future food businesses to expect coming out of this forum.

July 28, 2020 Caroline Cotto is hitting climate change head on through food. As inaugural president of the Upcycled Food Association and Chief Operating Officer of Renewal Foods, she is seeking to fix a broken food system by eliminating waste. Renewal Foods is a leading upcycling company currently with a handful of offerings including a brownie mix, chocolate chip cookies, and all purpose flour - all centered on okara, a byproduct consisting of insoluble parts of the soybean that remain from the production of soy milk and tofu.In this episode, Caroline explains the difficulties of releasing a product that requires educating the market in a time when in-person educational opportunities are essentially outlawed. She also touches on how the product development cycle of large companies seeking to use her ingredients has been postponed 12-24 months, and how this is all compounded by the difficulties in raising venture capital funds during COVID.Guest Unsponsor: The Ugly Pickle Co. Grant's Unsponsor: Better World Books. July 28, 2020 Worldwide total COVID deaths: >662,000. USA total deaths: >152,000. World's COVID deaths in the USA: 23.0%. Total active USA cases 2.16 million. World's active COVID cases in the USA: 37%. New US cases per day: 65,000. USA National Unemployment: 11% 

Caroline Cotto, COO at Renewal Mill, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:- The notion of upcycling and how it works- Incubating at Hodo Foods- Going-to market as an ingredients company- Okara flour and their product pipeline- Interesting companies built on upcycling- Getting onto retail shelves amidst COVID- Her take on my “idea of the week” Learn more at: https://renewalmill.comFollow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!

Minh Tsai started Hodo Foods with a simple farmer’s market stand after finishing up a wealthy career in investment banking and I asked him, why? His answer surprised me, but within context, it makes sense. Minh is someone who’s addicted to learning and solving problems and the intricacies and growth of the business has kept him in the tofu business for a little less than 16 years. Not only can you buy Hodo tofu in places in Whole Foods, Safeway and Target, but they also supply to Chipotle! We go through a variety of topics in this episode ranging from how Hodo’s factory is dealing with the pandemic, Asian humility, Minh’s incredible journey at Hodo as well as its challenges and innovations which pair in hand with some interesting tofu science facts. We also get into a very passionate discussion on blending plant-based meat and animal-based meat, and if you follow this podcast often, know about my experiences with that, and also talk about partnerships. Namely how Minh helped get a well-known upcycling company called Renewal Mill off the ground, where they were able to commercialize Hodo’s soy waste stream into great products. About Minh and Hodo Minh Tsai, Founder and CEO, Hodo Today, Hodo is one of the most original and sought after plant-based brands in the US. But Vietnamese refugee Minh Tsai never expected he’d be running such a company. Minh simply decided to make the delicious, organic artisan foods he grew up eating in Vietnam, but found elusive in the US. He started with one farmer’s market stand in the San Francisco Bay Area 15 years ago. Through innovating his own take on wholesome, traditional methods, Hodo products quickly became must-have ingredients for renowned chefs. Now, Hodo is found in ingredient-driven restaurants from Chipotle to Benu and Daniel, and in thousands of retail stores nationwide including Whole Foods Markets and Target. About Hodo Hodo handcrafts delicious, wholesome, organic plant-based foods for people who love to eat well. We use artisanal methods only, and we source every ingredient thoughtfully. Proudly made in Oakland, California. Beginning with one farmer’s market stand and growing to thousands of retail stores and restaurants nationwide, Hodo’s innovative yet traditionally-made products quickly became a favorite of renowned Chefs and home cooks alike. Hodo is served by ingredient-driven restaurants from Benu and Daniel to Chipotle, and retail stores from Whole Foods Markets to Target. Show Notes We’ve always had good food safety programs, COVID just amplified Meat factories getting Coronavirus Unfortunately, COVID and worker safety is all about controlling the probability. We have to find ways to increase the probability Has the pandemic slowed or accelerated sales?: We have a diverse sales demographics. Food services plummeted but retail and online grew really fast What do you tell people in a sentence or less?: I’m in the food business. But if they’re curious, they will dig deeper. If I say I make tofu or plant-based food, they just like up light up How often do you tell people that you’re the CEO of Hodo Foods?: Almost never Asian Humility Why don’t you like talking about yourself?: I like talking to the person, not the status. I don’t think it’s that interesting until context is made such as someone who’s working for a food company It monopolizes the conversation unfortunately Ideally, without context, you might not get a prolific conversation Describe the steps to get to where you are today: I always wanted to nourish people and wanted to work at the UN. I ended up going to Investment Banking because I couldn’t get a job because I was so new. I ended up moving through the ranks in investment banking What was the time where you decided to jump into tofu? I’d call myself an auto-didact, someone who keeps on learning I would end up being in M/A, then equity capital markets, and then I quit because I didn’t get the people I was working with. My manager asked me to work over Christmas and I said “no” to him. I didn’t understand why he had to work over Christmas and New Year while they were making millions and millions of dollars Did a little bit with a small consulting company working with dot.coms building buisnesses Then Charles’ Schaub On Money: Though we all care about Money, I’m in the United States, I can learn everything and I can reinvent myself any time. And that’s why I started a tofu business I started a tofu company when artisan was taking over. IE: Blue Bottle and CowGirl Creamery You first start by making food and once your friends tell you it’s good and would buy it, you might have something What made you feel confident about differentiated yourself: From the time we started Hobo, no one is able to make what we make It’s mainly because our process was really hard and our brand was really new Why did you decide to do hard tofu patties?: People liked it and you have to pasteurize it Mapo Tofu My Food Job Rocks: Some days are really hard but things are always different and I’m always learning Renewal Mill (see episode 4): I met Clare when I was speaking at Harvard Business School. I mentioned that we have a waste product that we produce and Clare reached out to pursue that idea. That now became Hodo Foods Regrained uses a distributed scale Renewal Mill will use their technology to do other byproducts How much Okara is produced?: It’s a 1:1 ratio of tofu to Okara. One pound of Soy beans should give you 1 lb of Okara Why help out Renewal Mill?: Why not? It’s a business. It also helps our image I wish we could talk about more things at Hodo Foods but we don’t have Paul Shapiro – Business For Good We generally treat all of our customers as partnerships. If they ask for something, we will try to innovate and help out What advice would you give people who are feeling down in today’s economy?: Forget the current climate. To start a food buisness, the barriers remain the same. You have to go through brokers and distributors. Try and sell in different channels. Perishability is a huge deal. You don’t need a national brand to be successful. There are plenty of small, local brands who are doing amazing. Reach requires more money and more cost In thisi climate, online is more critical than ever before. The shipping can kill us though Bread SRSLY Instacart, Imperfect, Sunbasket, Purple Carrot, etc Frozen is actually more stable than Refriderator Where can we find you for advice?: minh@hodofoods.com. You can bug me, but I don’t have a lot of patience dealing with common questions. I advise a few companies as well

Partnerships come in many forms and, with a little creativity, can present themselves in pretty unique ways! In this episode, we sit down with Caroline Cotto, the COO of Renewal Mill, to discuss the power of partnerships, keeping an open mind, and building a circular economy for food.

Katie Thomson is the CEO and Co-founder of Square Baby, a nutritionally designed all natural line of baby foods. As the first professional nutritionist for Starbucks, Katie played a pivotal role in the evolution of the Starbucks menu by introducing healthier options like oatmeal, bistro boxes, and egg white options. She is responsible for creating clean ingredient standards and acted as the health and wellness policy advisor and spokesperson of the company.  Since leaving Starbucks to pursue Square Baby, Katie has consulted for national brands like Red Robin and Hilton, as well as startups like Naturebox. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:  Katie Thomson talks about the healthy food evolution she did at Starbucks and how that drove her to entrepreneurship How the idea for Square Baby started and Katie’s business model and vision for the company’s product line How Square Baby's online ordering system works and the available subscription options Katie discusses her process for launching her products and the strategic alliances and partnerships she entered into Katie reveals her plans for more products particularly those for early allergen introduction to babies Challenges Katie has faced in her entrepreneurial journey and how she and her partner, Kendall, developed their productsHow the company organizes and produces all its SKUs and the feedback they have received from customers Why the company hasn't started selling on Amazon and in retail stores and how they are giving back to society Katie explains why she believes that following your gut is important In this episode... While working as a nutritionist at Starbucks, Katie Thomson was able to revamp their menu to include healthier food options and clean food ingredient standards. She was intent on making sure that the right nutritional information was available on food labels and from there, it opened a new door for Katie: entrepreneurship. Katie realized that many other companies out there did not care about their customers and continuously gave misleading information on its packages. Having her baby made her more conscious of food quality so she decided to leave her job at Starbucks and with her business partner, co-founded Square Baby. Join G. Steven Cleere in this week’s episode of NexxtLevel Brands as he interviews Katie Thomson of Square Baby about her entrepreneurship journey and what led her to start her company. She also talks about her business model for Square Baby, the strategic alliances and partnerships she has entered into, the challenges she faced, and how she manages to produce all of the company’s 21 SKUs. Plus, find out why she still hasn’t joined Amazon and how her company is giving back to society. Stay tuned. Subscribe and Listen on: iTunes Spotify Stitcher Google Play Resources Mentioned in this episode Kitchen2Shelf Nexxt Level Marketing Katie Thomson on LinkedIn  Square Baby Starbucks Coffee Ready, Set, Food!  Renewal Mill  National Peanut Board  Family House  NexxtLevel Brands episode featuring Alex Bayer of Genius Juice Sponsor for this episode... Our podcast today is sponsored by Kitchen2Shelf, the educational arm of NexxtLevel Brands. Kitchen-2-Shelf provides online and in-person courses and workshops for CPG entrepreneurs at any stage of growth.  Whether you're an early-stage startup, a local growing business, or if you want to just expand your distribution to a national level, Kitchen-2-Shelf can help you learn what you need to know to grow.

If you love adventure, stories of traveling the world, great food, and fighting climate change this episode is for you! My guest Caroline Cotto shares some of the significant things she has learned through her global experiences and how they have shaped what she is doing today. As the COO of Renewal Mill, she is directly involved in the operations, marketing, and innovation of the process of upcycling highly nutritious food byproducts into next generation ingredients and new food products. For more information, videos and links, check out the Show Notes at https://www.toogoodtowastepodcast.com/post/caroline-cotto-ep-05 Thanks to our sponsors: NETZRO, SBC - www.netzro.us Upcycled Food Association - www.upcycledfood.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/toogoodtowaste/message

In this episode, I'm meeting with Caroline Cotto, COO of Renewal Mill, a next-generation food company helping reduce global food waste by upcycling okara. Okara is the pulp from organic soybeans that is turned into a nutritious, versatile flour. We are talking about the food scene in Oakland, the company mission, where Renewal Mill is heading in the future, what large corporations can learn from smaller food startups and how to build a company with a circular mindset. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

Nina Meijers discusses FoodBytes! (San Francisco event showcasing startups disrupting the food and agriculture space) and former FoodBytes! alumna Claire Schlemme, CEO & founder of Oakland-based Renewal Mill that is fighting food waste by upcycling okara.Transcripts:Lisa Kiefer:This is Method to the Madness, a public payer show on KALX Berkeley celebrating Bay Area innovators. I'm your host, Lisa Kiefer and today I'm speaking with Nina Meyers of Foodbytes and Claire Schlemme, CEO and founder of Oakland based and alumni startup of Foodbytes Renewal Mill. Welcome to the program.Nina Meyers:Thank you.Lisa Kiefer:I'm particularly interested in what's coming up next week with Foodbytes, but first of all, Nina Meyers, tell us what you do for Foodbytes, how it got started, what's the history and what's the problems that you're trying to solve.Nina Meyers:Sure, happy to and thanks for having us. Pleasure to be here. Foodbytes quite simply is a pitch competition and networking platform for sustainable food and AG innovators. So it started four plus years ago. We're actually about to do our 15th Foodbytes, which is in San Francisco, which is where it all began. So it's founded by Rabobank. Rabobank is one of the largest food and agriculture banks in the world and in North America, our clients are some of the largest and mid sized food and AG companies. We started to see that we're working with a lot of our corporates and they're facing a lot of challenges in innovation where we're all faced with this idea that we're going to have 10 billion people on the planet by 2050. We need to feed those people and we need to do so efficiently. There's lots of environmental challenges and there's a lot of startups that are starting to create nimble ways and test and experiment and are basically building technologies and products that are solving those challenges.So we, four and a half years ago said, we want to do something that's just for food and AG. There's lots of pitch opportunities out there for tech startups. There's lots of things that are cross-disciplinary, but we said, let's bring our knowledge to the table. Let's bring our corporates to the table and investors that are just looking at food and AG start to create an ecosystem where those startups can make the connections to help scale their technologies and on the converse side of that that the corporates can start to build relationships and really start to think about these ways that innovation is happening to bring it to their own businesses.Lisa Kiefer:Tell me how it operates. Is it a competition?Nina Meyers:Yeah, so it is a competition in its most essential form. We look through hundreds of applications. We score them and we come to 15 startups that we select to come and pitch from all around the world and we're looking at on the product side, on the tech side, on the agriculture tech sides. We're looking at like AG tech, food tech and food products and they basically have a two day experience jam packed, but we basically bring together our network of mentors in the room, experts in legal deal structuring, branding, PR and they have intimate mentor sessions with them. They get to build camaraderie and relationships with one another as the entrepreneurs. They get to practice their pitches for the judges that are going to judge them the next day and they really have this full day of just like, it's kind of like a mini business school. Learn as much as you can.Lisa Kiefer:Do you find that many of these startups don't have business skills?Nina Meyers:I wouldn't say that. I think it's like you're just trying to build your business day in and day out and you have to focus on that and this, we're doing this one day kind of takes them out of it a little bit and that they're like, "Oh I've been a tech company. I've been really focused on how do I build a relationships with corporates or how do I build the MVP of my technology, but I wasn't thinking about the brand. I wasn't thinking about how I should structure my series B round when I'm fundraising, when I'm just in this infancy of my seed stage." They start to just have a lot of information around them.Lisa Kiefer:It would seem like creativity doesn't have to go hand in hand with business skills. I mean getting the right people together.Nina Meyers:To an extent. It depends on which entrepreneur, which startup, but I would say that they kind of say, "I took a day out of my life, my building, my business life, but I got to get all these different intros and different insights and also of course the insights from the other entrepreneurs that are there who are facing similar challenges, building similar businesses." So they do that and then there's a pitch day, which is a traditional pitch competition. There's hundreds of people in the room. It's focused on investment, but it's also focused on Rabobank bringing our corporates into the room so that they can pitch for these potential partners.There's a lot of media there covering it to see what's kind of the cutting edge of food and AG innovation and then what we started with was this pitch competition. Now it's built into two days and we started to build a continuous community around that. We say, "Hey, do you want to meet with X, Y and Z?" They're really interested in thinking about partnering with you. We have a database of thousands of startups and we're always thinking about how can we continue to build relationships?Lisa Kiefer:Do you sometimes do that with those who maybe didn't make it, but they have a great idea? Maybe they don't have the right skills but you match them up with somebody else?Nina Meyers:Yep, absolutely. So we have a database of thousands of companies that have applied, but we also, we have 250 now alumni of the platform. We're looking at everyone who's ever sort of come across our radar who is an innovator in this space. So that's what happens over the two days, but we kind of say that it's a discovery platform, but it's also like the beginning of a relationship where Rabobank can kind of be this connector, be this matchmaker, be this champion for both sides of-Lisa Kiefer:Tell me about the judges. How many and who are these people?Nina Meyers:They change. Every food rates has had a different grouping of judges. I think we've had something like 75. It's probably closer to a hundred and mentors, but essentially they're some of our sponsors and partners. They're legal experts who work with startups to help them structure their deals and figure out how to engage with investors. They are actual investors in need of a CPG space or on the tech side. They are sometimes policy experts who are really focused on sustainable food policy and-Lisa Kiefer:So some academics?Nina Meyers:Yeah, academics. Exactly. So literally we've had judges sort of from all across the board. We've also started having an alumni come on as a judge to sort of speak from that first hand perspective of this is what happened when I was there. We have-Lisa Kiefer:That's a great idea.Nina Meyers:Yeah, we have Abby Ramadan from Impact Vision who is an alumni of our platform and she's been very involved. She's also based out here. We want the judging panel to be able to provide varying expertise.Lisa Kiefer:Does it always happen in the same city?Nina Meyers:It's global. We've been in San Francisco the most. We've been in Silicon Valley the most. This is our sixth San Francisco edition, but we've been in Australia. We've been in London. We've been in the Netherlands, New York. We're headed to Chicago in September. Oh, we were in Boulder. We were in Austin, but yeah, we're-Lisa Kiefer:So how many times a year are we talking?Nina Meyers:So we were doing three to four for awhile globally for 2020 and 2019 we're doing two so that we can really focus on doing more and providing more value for everyone in our ecosystem and the in between.Lisa Kiefer:So this year you have how many participants?Nina Meyers:We have 15 companies.Lisa Kiefer:And two are from the Bay Area?Nina Meyers:Yes.Lisa Kiefer:One of them I'm particularly interested in. That's SnapDNA.Nina Meyers:Yes. We talk a little bit about some of the challenges that the companies are solving and one of them is sort of this idea of transparency. It's this idea of we all know about recalls that are happening in food all the time and there's a lot of opacity around what happens from the fields to your plate or wherever it comes from. So there are companies, there are a lot of innovation in this space that's happening around food safety and pathogen detection. So that SnapDNA is one of those companies that's really creating a real time test for folks in the food supply chain to get that information on whether food is safe or whether it has certain pathogens and we've seen a number of different sort of innovators come through that are focused on this, but this is something as a point I just made that's very, very well event to the corporate focus in the room.Lisa Kiefer:That can save so much money.Nina Meyers:It's about efficiency. It's obviously about safety. It's about consumer trust, which we know consumers want safer food, more sustainable food, healthier, more nutritious, cleaner and they're willing to pay more for it as well. So this is something that's important to all those players.Lisa Kiefer:Okay, and the other one is Planetariums and they're out of Palo Alto. Do you know much about them?Nina Meyers:Yes I do and the Planetariums is an up cycling company, which what does that mean? So it's and Claire I'm sure will talk more about this, but it is a waste stream that's up cycled into a new food essentially. So they are taking defatted seeds, which are a byproduct of the vegetable oil process and they are basically making that into a very nutritious protein rich flour. So they just announced today that they got, that they just raised a $750000 seed round and one of their investors is Barilla, which is the largest pasta producer in the world. So for a company like Barilla, to just give you an example is looking at this up cycling space and saying, "Yeah, of course we make pasta out of wheat, but we know that consumers want different things. Consumers want chickpea pasta. They want gluten free pasta. They still want traditional pasta, but let's look at ways that we can really provide something that consumers are starting to relate to.Lisa Kiefer:That's interesting. I've had a couple of your alumni on this show and one of them was Andrew Brentano who does cricket protein.Nina Meyers:Yes.Lisa Kiefer:And the other people were in perfect produce and they also, we're trying to save money by getting rid of waste in the food marketplace.Nina Meyers:Yep.Lisa Kiefer:If you're just tuning in, you're listening to Method to the Madness, a biweekly public affairs show on KALX Berkeley celebrating Bay Area innovators. Today I'm speaking with Nina Meyers of FoodBytes and Claire Schlemme, CEO and founder of Oakland based Renewal Mill. So I want to kind of shift over here to Claire Schlemme and Claire, you were an alumni of Foodbytes a couple of years ago.Claire Sclemme:Yes.Lisa Kiefer:We got up to the point where it's talking about judging. You made it to the finals.Claire Sclemme:Sure.Lisa Kiefer:What happened?Claire Sclemme:So as Nina mentioned, it's really it was a two day event for us. So the first day before the actual pitch competition, we had the opportunity to talk to a lot of different experts in different fields, which was, which was really great. So I think going back to that point, even with some business experience under our belt, it was a lot of really quick concentrated information that we were able to get from that day, which was excellent. So a lot of touching on all these legal issues, packaging issues, marketing issues, so really being able to touch all those different points and then also being able to have a pitch in front of the judges before the actual competition was also-Lisa Kiefer:So like a practice pitch.Claire Sclemme:It was a practice pitch. We got feedback on it, which was great. We could incorporate the feedback into our pitch for the next day, which was also very helpful and it really-Lisa Kiefer:Maybe you should tell us about your company.Claire Sclemme:Absolutely. So, so I'm the cp-founder and CEO of Renewal Mill and Renewal Mill up cycles byproducts from food manufacturing into high quality ingredients and products. So essentially we're building a portfolio of ingredients that are all being sourced from different byproducts. So the first-Lisa Kiefer:Like what?Claire Sclemme:So the first ingredient that we brought to market commercially is called Okara flour and it's made from the byproduct from soy milk production. So it's basically taking the soybean pulp that's generated when soy milk is made. We dry it, mill it and turn it into a high fiber, high protein, gluten free flour. So that's one example. There's a lot of other other places in the food system where this type of waste is happening. So particularly in food manufacturing waste is a really good place to be looking at food waste because it's kind of low hanging fruit in terms of being able to attack the food waste problem.Things coming out of a food manufacturing facility are food safe already because they're in this facility and they're often very concentrated in their scale because it's food production is pretty concentrated. So you have the ability to hit that economy of scale that you need to make a profitable business or make a business that can make sense. So we're focused primarily on these fibrous byproduct streams. So anything that's coming from really coming from that first step of bringing in anything from the field, the fruits, the vegetables, the beans, things like that and you get a lot of fiber rich byproducts because a lot of what we're processing out of our food system right now is fiber.Even though that's the one macronutrient that western diets are very deficient in. So we're starting with Okara. Okara production in the US is very concentrated actually. There's just a handful of major production facilities. So it's a strategic starting point for us from that point of view. From there we're looking at other byproducts of nondairy milk production. So within this big world of fibrous byproducts, we're looking specifically at these nondairy milk byproduct streams. So the byproducts coming out of almond milk production, oat milk production, that's where we're going to be headed at next.Lisa Kiefer:So anything with [holls 00:12:31].Claire Sclemme:Exactly, yeah.Lisa Kiefer:So you're up before the judges and you know your company well. What happened? What did they ask you? Give us the scenario.Claire Sclemme:That's it. That's a great question. So a lot of the feedback, the feedback always helps you kind of see things, obviously from outside eyes that haven't heard your story a million times. Basically a panel with different backgrounds be able to weigh in on things that are causing confusion for them or things that didn't quite come across.So really being able to make sure that we can really hone in on the right story that we want to be telling and making sure that it's coming across that way and being received that way by the judges and also making sure that we're presenting all the information that somebody would want to know. So making sure that we've addressed issues like competition in the field or kind of what our growth strategy is and making sure that we haven't left something kind of major out that a judge would want to see. So that was very helpful and I think it was also just helpful to get a sense of what the space is like and it's a pretty big event with quite a few attendees. So it's nice to feel comfortable on the stage and in front of the judges [crosstalk 00:13:35].Lisa Kiefer:How many minutes are you up there?Nina Meyers:It's three minutes now. So as far as-Lisa Kiefer:Wow, that's not much time.Nina Meyers:[inaudible] competitions, it's pretty tight, but the judges also ask questions after the companies go. So that it's like another layer of sort of engagement and that's-Lisa Kiefer:And do they get materials ahead of time?Nina Meyers:Yes. So they spend, obviously they're with each other the day before, but they also get materials many days in advance and they now they have meetings with some of the startups. So Claire participated two years ago and we've really continued to evolve what the programming looks like as people. We always get feedback. So the entrepreneurs say, "I actually want more time with investors that are, I know I'm going to meet the right investors." So we're doing actually an investor power hour for the first time this time around where we're strategically matching them with one or two investors and we're doing, it's not a speed dating because it's like 20 minutes, but basically meetings with those specific folks whose investment these align with what the startups are doing.Lisa Kiefer:Is the networking what they win or do you actually get funding?Nina Meyers:There isn't direct funding as a result of Foodbytes, but there are a number of prizes. One of the main ones is for all the three winners is that they, Rabobank hosts a huge summit in New York at the end of the year. So December and all of our corporate clients, so big food and AG companies are there and the winners across all the events from that year get to come and pitch and have targeted meetings with the corporates that are relevant for their businesses and they have a few days where they're just really targeted and meeting with folks that can potentially help them as partners. So that's one main prize and then a lot of our sponsors who are, like we said, experts in many different fields, there's also consultations with them so that they can get five hours of legal consultation on how to structure their deal. They can get PR consultation and branding consultation on how to build the best investor materials and DAX and present their brand in the best possible way.Lisa Kiefer:Claire, what was it you found to be the most useful out of winning this competition?Nina Meyers:So we weren't the winners from our cohort. We were in the finalists but actually kind of going back again to all the people that we meet during the two days, that was a very valuable thing for us that made the participation in the event very worthwhile for us. So we actually continued to have some conversations with some of the lawyers that we met there to talk about some of the legal structuring, some of the agreements that we were currently in the process of structuring and we also had continued conversation with folks that were very knowledgeable about packaging for food products because there's a lot that goes into making sure that the product fits all the legal regulations and the requirements. That was great to have both of those connections coming out of Foodbytes.Lisa Kiefer:Once you get involved with say a VC or some sort of funding source, do you ever worry about losing your company's mission? That it will begin to sort of move away from you?Claire Sclemme:Yeah, that's a great question. So actually one of the things that we did when we first founded the company thinking about that very point was that we incorporated as a public benefit corporation. So we wanted that to be really built into our mission and so we structured that into the type of business we actually were and one of the pieces of kind of feedback that we got at the very beginning was that maybe you don't want to do that because you might be closing yourself off to investors that aren't interested in investing in a benefit corporation and we said, "That's exactly why we want to do this, because it essentially is going to kind of self select the types of investors that we're looking for." So that was kind of the first layer and then the second of course is making sure that when we're talking to investors that we do have that mission alignment as we're taking on investment.Lisa Kiefer:Getting back to you, Nina, you've done this for several years now. What trends in agriculture are you seeing pop up from the startup companies? I mean, you talked about some of the problems in the AG industry. What are you seeing overall?Nina Meyers:Yeah, well a major trend. I'd say a cross food tech, AG tech and CPG as is this idea of waste mitigation. So up cycling is one avenue in which that's happening. Another one is of course packaging. We're seeing more and more edible packaging. We're seeing more compostable packaging, plant based packaging. We have a company that's pushing in Foodbytes called Coremat and that's exactly what they're doing. They're making compostable, plant-based packaging that's basically-Lisa Kiefer:That's awesome because all these cities are now saying it's too expensive to recycle.Nina Meyers:Exactly and from a regulatory perspective that this sort of clampdown is increasing. It's happened in Europe, forcing lots of innovation in the packaging world in Europe and it's starting to happen here. That's one massive trend and huge need that startups are really looking to solve and obviously an incredible opportunity for collaboration on the corporate side of things as they start to realize we really, really need to be focusing on it. It's happening [crosstalk 00:18:31-Lisa Kiefer:Why are you giving me a plastic bag?Nina Meyers:Why are you giving me a straw? Right, exactly. So that's one place where we're seeing a lot of innovation and then on the waste mitigation side as well, right? Stopping waste before it can happen. So more and more technology companies are saying, let's use data and technology to stop waste before it can happen. So a company like [Winnow] who's come through our platform, they basically have a scale for food service and back of house at restaurants that weighs waste as it's going out and then gives restaurants a better picture of their wastage so that they can decrease that. That's the-Lisa Kiefer:What's the incentive for someone to reduce their waste at the restaurant level?Nina Meyers:Money. They save restaurants globally $25 million a year and they're not that big yet. I mean they're just starting out. So it's money.Lisa Kiefer:It sounds like you've put together a lot of qualitative data.Nina Meyers:Yes, we, like I said, we started with a very, very small team and over the last year or so we've built up the team like I said. So we've just brought in a data analyst who is amazing and we're sort of at the tip of the iceberg for what data are we sitting on and what are we saying? But yes, we have a really good picture of trends that are happening. That's one major, major trend that we're seeing. The other one is sort of just the environmental impact of food-Lisa Kiefer:Climate change?Nina Meyers:... Production, of climate change and also to hand in hand with that that consumers have more and more knowledge of that and are demanding better, cleaner products.Lisa Kiefer:Yeah, look at the Midwest right now.Nina Meyers:Yes.Lisa Kiefer:All the flooding and that used to be our bread basket.Nina Meyers:That's when it has to change and startups are really heeding that call on the plant based foods side of things as well. Just if we're talking about packaged foods in general, we're seeing so much innovation in that space. We're seeing at least 40% of the companies that apply that have a product that apply to Foodbytes are in some way related to the plant based space. To sort of talk about some of the companies that are pitching coming up in San Francisco we're seeing new and novel plant based proteins. So we have a company called [Tali] and they are making waterlily seed puffs. So we see the puffs as like a huge category in the food product world, but this is a new type of puff. It's basically bringing in an heirloom varietal.It's gotten more protein, more nutritious. They're doing some really interesting flavors. So we're seeing companies like that who are bringing this plant based protein view to snacking. We also have a company called Gem and they basically have the first FDA regulated supplement product, food supplement. It's for women by women. It's made from algae and a number of different plants. Real food. It's clean food. So we're seeing things in that type of space. I was just at Expo West, which is the largest natural foods show in the country and I think it's 1500 exhibitors, 90000 people.Lisa Kiefer:Where was it?Nina Meyers:It's in Anaheim. It's 90000 people. So it's very, very intense and there's a lot of companies that are doing very similar things. There's the plant-based trend just continues to grow year over year. So whether that's new algae products, that's lots of cauliflower products, you see the confluence of a lot of trends.Lisa Kiefer:Are any UC Berkeley professors or policy people judging this year?Nina Meyers:Not this year, but next year we're going to make it happen.Claire Sclemme:Oh excellent.Lisa Kiefer:Can anyone go to this?Nina Meyers:Yes. It's open to the public. We really want people there who care about these issues, who care about sustainable food and AG, who want to see what the innovators at the bleeding edge of sustainable innovation are doing. Next Thursday, the 28th of March, starting at 2:00 PM, it's really an opportunity to see these 15 startups pitch, to engage with them and see their products and technologies, have some delicious food and drinks and if you want to get into food or if you're a journalist or if you're a student and this is where the world you think you want to go into, we absolutely encourage you to come. If you're an investor or you're a food corporate and you're trying to figure out what's next, we 1000000% encourage you to come.Lisa Kiefer:And you have a website?Nina Meyers:Foodbytesworld.com. Instagram is Foodbytes by Rabobank. We've profiled all the companies who are going to be pitching. There's lots of content. Claire's on there somewhere. So check us out on Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, and then Foodbytesworld.com is where you can get tickets to come and see us next week.Lisa Kiefer:And Claire, your business is located where?Claire Sclemme:Oh, we're in Oakland.Lisa Kiefer:Okay, what have your challenges been since you participated in Foodbytes?Claire Sclemme:Oh, that's a good question. Our biggest challenge I would say is that, so working in the byproduct space, we're really a bridge builder between the production and then bringing that into the market. We have less control over being able to scale in a way that other companies might be able to have as they're creating products. So we're really bound to the amount of byproducts that are coming out of certain facilities. So being able to match that production with the sales is really, I would say one of our biggest challenges. So it kind of swings back and forth from having more demands than we have a production for to having more supply of the ingredient than we currently have sales force. So it's kind of bouncing back and forth as we try to strike that perfect balance as we bring these ingredients on board.Lisa Kiefer:And are most of your sources local?Claire Sclemme:So right now they are. So our first source is in Oakland, which is why we started out in Oakland and why we're based there. So our first partner facility is Hodo Foods and they're a tofu manufacturer. So the first step of making tofu is making the soy milk and so that's where we're basically harvesting the Okara from is from Hodo and our next two facilities that we will likely be using as our sources of production are also in northern California.Nina Meyers:When you sort of spoke about what do they get out of this, the alumni who come through our platforms have raised a combined 550 million. I believe it was something like 150 last year. So even though it's not directly a prize, this is what we've seen as the companies who've come out of who we've chosen, who we've selected, this is how they're moving forward and getting that investment to scale their companies.Lisa Kiefer:You must be checking the failure rate of these companies as they-Nina Meyers:Yes.Lisa Kiefer:... they leave Foodbytes. What is the failure rate?Nina Meyers:It's under 10% because we're doing really like a lot of due diligence in the process of picking the ones that we think are really going to be successful. It's relatively low. It's lower than the average.Lisa Kiefer:Do you have a business background?Nina Meyers:I actually went to college in upstate New York at Skidmore college. I studied at a liberal arts school and I had was working in a sustainable restaurant, a farm to table restaurant the summer after college and my Mom is a chef and so I grew up around food. Food is my whole life and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do next when I moved to New York during the recession in 2009. I started working for a restaurant company in New York in the creative department. I got sort of my foot in the door there and started working on marketing and design for the restaurants.So that was really a sort of honed my skills there on the marketing side of things. Started to realize through being in New York that what I really cared about was sustainability in food and agriculture and trying to figure out what to do next. I then went onto work for Food Tech Connect, which is a site of record for food innovation essentially. We did a lot of events in this space and meetups and consulting and hackathons, which is really all focused on sustainable food and agriculture. So I was there. I was working with startups directly. Spent about four years there and then we started working together with Rabobank to build Foodbytes out from its infancy.Lisa Kiefer:Claire how did you get into this pat of the world?Claire Sclemme:Yes. So my background is actually in environmental management. So I have in my masters in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry. I had primarily actually been involved mostly in the space of sustainability and energy and so I'd worked at a renewable energy startup in India and worked with UN climate change, but I started to realize how important the food system is in the space of sustainability and I, kind of my first transition into into food was actually co-founding a juice company in Boston where I was living at the time. So we started as a food truck and we were connecting farmers to folks in the city through juices and smoothies and then in that process saw how much waste is created when you're juicing. It was really kind of like this moral issue.At the end of the day we'd sourced all this great produce from these farmers and it was all organic. It was mostly local. You'd spend a lot of money to buy all this produce and we're throwing out a huge amount of it at the end of the day, ll that pulp that's left over from juicing. On the the other side, of course we're selling the product that we are making, we're selling at a price point that's pretty high for the, it wasn't a super affordable food for much of the city and so those two pieces together kind of where you know really struck me as a challenge and that was a space that I really wanted to continue working in after I left that company.So when I had really just a fortuitous conversation with the owner of Hodo Foods in Oakland, the owner of the tofu factory and saw that he had this challenge with his byproduct that he was producing, which was very similar to what I had seen at the juice company, but at this much bigger scale and that it wasn't just a Okara, it was lots of different opportunities and lots of different sources of these types of byproducts. That was really the beginning of Renewal Mill was looking into how we can solve both food waste and also increase affordable nutrition in the food system.Nina Meyers:Claire really pioneered this space and now there's a company that's much younger than you, but it's called Pulp Pantry and they're doing, they're solving the problem that Claire just outlined. It's like entrepreneurial serendipity. They saw the same problem and they're making value added snacks out of juice pulp.Lisa Kiefer:Wow, you should all join forces and become the next Nabisco.Claire Sclemme:I know. Exactly, exactly.Nina Meyers:[crosstalk 00:28:19].Lisa Kiefer:[crosstalk] better.Nina Meyers:That's exactly what Foodbytes wants to have happen.Claire Sclemme:Yeah.Lisa Kiefer:Well, was there anything else that is coming up with Foodbytes besides this conference next week?Nina Meyers:Rabo has a whole other food and AG innovation platform called Tara. It is basically the next step in the cycle for startups to engage with Rabo after Foodbytes. That's what Tara is all about. We're going into our fourth cohort and applications are open now. Tara is like, how can we do the best possible matchmaking for startups and corporates? So applications are open now. That website is Taraaccelerator.com. They're open. They close on April 26th. So any startups, anyone you think is interested, you can learn about the corporates that are participating to see and so you can learn more there.Claire Sclemme:In addition to kind of all of the structured support that's coming out of Foodbytes, I think the other piece that was really valuable to us was actually meeting the other companies that we're pitching and there there's been some valuable connections that we've had in terms of the the business and actually finding uses for our flour with some of the other companies that have been on the platform, but also just really to talk to other entrepreneurs and be able to just talk about some of the other challenges that you're facing from a business perspective and also from a personal perspective as well. So it's a really, I think it's a really great community of entrepreneurs that are being brought together as well.Lisa Kiefer:Well thank you so much for being on the show.Claire Sclemme:Thank you.Nina Meyers:Thank you for having us.Lisa Kiefer:You've been listening to Method to the Madness, a biweekly public affairs show on KALX Berkeley, celebrating Bay Area innovators. You can find all of our podcasts on iTunes University. We'll be back again in two weeks. [music] See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Renewal Mill is a next-generation ingredients company that upcycles byproducts like okara, a pulp created during the soymilk production process. Renewal Mill is working to transform traditional food production byproducts ... The post #25: Upcycling Food Byproducts with Claire Schlemme appeared first on At The Table.

Renewal Mill is a next-generation ingredients company that upcycles byproducts like okara, a pulp that’s created during the soymilk production process. Led by our guest, founder and CEO Claire Schlemme, Renewal Mill is working to transform traditional food production byproducts into delicious, nutritious culinary ingredients that reduce food waste throughout the supply chain. SHOWNOTES: atthetablepodcast.com/25

Renewal Mill is a next-generation ingredients company that upcycles byproducts like okara, a pulp created during the soymilk production process. Renewal Mill is working to transform traditional food production byproducts ... The post #25: Upcycling Food Byproducts with Claire Schlemme appeared first on At The Table.

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