Our second birthday is a good time to reflect on what we do and why we do it.
I started Foodprint for the sake of the planet. I’m genuinely worried about the impact that humans have on our home and what the future will look like. The impact that wasted food has on climate change is catastrophic. Wasted food accounts for about 8% of global emissions. Project Drawdown’s research shows it’s the third most important action we can take to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. All of this from what really is an avoidable problem.
It’s fair to say the last two years (three if you count the year of development) have been a thoroughly enjoyable, wild ride.
Our first few months flew by in a blur of gratitude to our early adopting eateries and customers rescuing food each day; obsessing over download numbers; and many more media interviews than I’d dreamed of.
We were about seven months in when I remember seeing an RNZ alert on my phone about a new coronavirus being reported. Honestly, I didn’t really think that much of it until I was in the USA to attend the Natural Foods Expo (for a trip I won through Sprout Accelerator) in late February and the night before it was due to start, it was cancelled. A few days after my return to New Zealand, I made the call to change Foodprint’s model and allow eateries to use the app for all ordering. Our app was familiar to our eateries, it was set up and ready to go with a couple of tweaks in the back end. It was a no brainer. Plus, without this option, it was clear that so much more food would be wasted. Just a few days later we all went into the unknown of Alert Level 4 lockdown,
In the months that followed, it was heartwarming to hear from eateries how much we were able to help them during this time. Ultimately, using the app for all ordering meant our model and messaging changed, distracting from our key purpose, so we reverted back to what I set out to do, rescuing food from being wasted.
Throughout 2020, I was grateful to receive guidance from my mentor from Sprout, Jonathan.
Getting to spend time with other start-ups at similar stages was also hugely beneficial and I’m still regularly in touch with a few of the others from our cohort.
Despite the craziness of 2020, Foodprint has been recognised both internationally and here in New Zealand receiving the following:
Good Design Australia - Gold, September 2020
Agtech breakthrough - Direct to Consumer Service of the Year (USA), September 2020
Best Design - Gold in Digital Products and Silver in Public Good Award, November 2020
In two short years, the Foodprint community has saved over 40,000kg of carbon dioxide equivalent gas from entering the atmosphere. And while this number seems both big and small, we still have a long way to go. I’ve also been incredibly proud to see Foodprint sit high in the app store rankings, peaking at number two.
Whether you joined us on day one, or yesterday, thank you to all of our customers, eateries and everyone else who has shown us support over the last two years. I’m excited for what the next two and the next 20 look like.