Sep 1, 2021

Agricycle Global , a food and agriculture waste start-up based in Wisconsin, announced this week that it has raised a two-part seed round totaling $2.4 million. The round was led by MaSa Partners and CSA Partners, with participation from Wisconsin Investment Partners, Brightstar Wisconsin, and several angel investors. The start-up works across Sub-Saharan Africa with local farmers and communities to upcycle food ingredients and build a sustainable supply chain. This year, Agricycle launched two new brands that were distributed to over 1,000 U.S. stores. The start-up’s mission is to work with those who have typically been excluded from global food markets, including women, youth, and smallholder farmers. Tropicoal Ignition , one of Agricycle’s brands, employs women to gather spent cassava root, coconut shells, and palm kernel shells that would normally go to waste. These ingredients are then processed and made into cooking charcoal. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 25 to 50 percent of all produce i s wasted post-harvest and before it even reaches the market. This is due to insufficient transportation, processing, drying, and storage. To combat this, Agricycle supplies solar dehydrators to small farmers and woman-led cooperatives that harvest jackfruit, mango, and pineapple. The fruit is then dried, packaged, and sold under the brand Jali Fruit Co . Each bag of dried fruit features a QR code that consumers can use to see where the ingredients were sourced from. Whole Foods predicted that upcycled foods would be a trend this year, and the entire market is currently worth over $46.7 billion . This past April, the Upcycled Food Association launched a “Upcycled Certified” label shine the light on CPG companies focused on reducing food waste. Agricycle will use the capital to launch its ingredient supplying business called Field Better Ingredients. The new brand will supply organic gluten-free flours made from 100 percent fruit to CPG manufacturers and bakeries. Get The Spoon in Your Inbox Leave this field empty if you're human: Related