Food rescuers with food cart
Replate, Inc., a nonprofit food rescue organization that matches surplus food from businesses with communities in need, has received two grants from CalRecycle’s Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grants program totaling $800,000 to recover edible food that would have otherwise been sent to a landfill.
By leveraging technology and the principles of the shared economy, Replate, Inc. has created a self-sustaining food rescue logistics application utilized in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, Los Angeles, and other major metropolitan areas. Replate Inc.’s platform matches recurring and on-demand food donations to community organizations through optimized routes. Its fleet of professionally trained ‘food rescuers’ uses the application to locate, recover, and deliver donations to partner community organizations, based on the organization’s needs and capacity.
Since receiving its first grant in March 2018, Replate, Inc. has rescued and distributed over 900,000 pounds of edible food to more than 80 recipient organizations.
The food rescued by Replate, Inc. is providing high-quality nutritious food to shelters, kitchens, and other non-profits in disadvantaged communities. One of Replate, Inc.’s recipients, Youth Spirit Artworks, reports: “We have been able to serve dinner to the homeless and low-income young people in our program every day since we started working with Replate Inc., which helps them stay focused and engaged in our program. For many, it is their only meal of the day.”
St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco, another Food Waste grant recipient, also appreciates the donations provided by Replate, Inc.: “Beautiful food is such a gift to anyone, and we are so very grateful to work in partnership with such a generous organization committed to offering so much to so many.”
Food rescuers holding goods in the warehouse