Replate
Model & Strategy
Replate envisions a world where everyone has access to nutritious food, and no food goes to waste. As a nonprofit food rescue organization, Replate creates technology and activates community to reliably redistribute surplus food. Replate leverages the existing systems gig economy to create jobs in the cities they operate in. Replate’s focus on technology and data allows their donor clients to track the amount of food they’re donating, so they can understand the positive impact they’re having on the environment as well as on their community. By redirecting edible and nutritious food to people rather than to the waste stream, Replate is helping to cut methane emissions from landfills, save water that goes into producing food, and create nutritious meals for community members experiencing food insecurity.
After coming to the U.S. from Syria to pursue medicine at UC Berkeley, Maen Mahfoud was shocked to see the level of poverty and hunger that is so ubiquitous across the Bay Area. When he learned that the U.S. wastes 40 percent of the food produced and saw so many people around him struggling to get a meal, he was inspired to make a change. Maen recognized that food waste is a solvable problem and that what people consider “waste” is oftentimes still edible and nutritious food. He decided to start reaching out to companies himself and pick up their surplus food to donate to nearby nonprofits.
Impact
To date, Replate has recovered 2.7M pounds of food, created 2.2M meals, and created 48 meaningful jobs.
Replate has saved 748M gallons of water and diverted 5.6M pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere.
