We often perceive wasted food as the cost of doing business in independent restaurants. But today, with supply chain disruptions, the growing cost of food, and staffing challenges, those costs are becoming increasingly burdensome, creating an opening to reframe food waste reduction as the critical opportunity it is – to drive operational efficiency, deliver unique customer experiences, improve profit margins, and/or create a competitive advantage.
That's why our current open call for the Catalytic Grant Fund is focused on accelerating the adoption of food waste solutions for restaurants. We're looking for proven or pilot-ready solutions that are simple, affordable, and convenient to implement and/or have a strong business case for small to medium-sized independent restaurants – including increased cost savings, improved staff retention, higher customer acquisition, and more.
And to bolster the catalytic nature of this open call, we're excited to announce that a subset of the selected grantees will get a unique opportunity to pilot their solution with restaurants.
ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP
This open call is made possible by the generous support of our anchor funder, Toast.org, which is dedicated to enriching the food experience for all and creating a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world. Toast.org is the social impact arm of Toast, the cloud-based, all-in-one technology platform that helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue, and deliver amazing guest experiences.
We hosted an informational webinar for prospective applicants on the Catalytic Grant Fund’s newest open call focused on restaurant food waste on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. View the recording to learn more about what makes a strong application and review the Q&A session with the Grant Fund Team.
Proposals for this open call must demonstrate the following in their Letter of Intent in order to be considered for funding:
Are pilot-ready OR successfully implementing proven solutions and best practices in restaurants
Can reduce restaurant food waste in a simple, affordable, and convenient way and/or demonstrate a strong business case
Be operating in the United States OR seeking funding to expand to the United States.
Solutions that can be easily integrated into existing operations that can compare restaurants’ inventory and sales
Modular, refrigerated storage systems to store otherwise wasted byproducts and surplus food for pick-up
Solutions to support standardized, consistent portioning when plating food
Co-branding opportunities, particularly ones that maximize the value of commonly wasted byproducts and trim in restaurant settings (e.g., coffee grounds, citrus peels, egg shells, etc.) such as upcycling solutions
Implementation of varying serving sizes (e.g., full serving, half serving)
Solutions to address waste generated on the line in full-service restaurants, where there typically isn’t space for a compost bin
AI-powered robots that can minimize prep trim and cut labor costs
New food donation, composting, upcycling models, etc. that offer a hassle-free pick-up system (could also offer feedback loops to restaurants with actionable insights on how much and what types of foods they’re diverting from landfill, and/or a compelling economic advantage for restaurants)
Research proposals
Advocacy or policy-related proposals
Traditional food donation and compost pick-up services (unless the services incorporate an innovative aspect that remove the existing challenges that has limited restaurant uptake such as costliness and capacity to store food until pick-up)
Proposals that do not directly reduce pre or post-consumer food waste in restaurant settings
To learn more about this open call, please review the FAQ page.
We are deeply grateful to our anchor funder for the current open call – Toast.org – and all other donors who share our mission and vision for a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive food system. If you would like to learn more about the Catalytic Grant Fund and discuss a contribution, please email Alexandria Coari at [email protected] or enter your information in the form below.
Consumers are the largest total generators of food waste, but it's not always easy for them to change wasteful behaviors. This first Open Call is focused on solutions and innovations in need of funding that can enable consumers to actively reduce their food waste at home – as well as in restaurant and foodservice settings – by making it obvious, affordable, and convenient. To bolster these solutions, the Catalytic Grant Fund seeks to support initiatives at a local, regional, and/or national level.
ReFED is a national nonprofit working to end food loss and waste across the food system by advancing data-driven solutions to the problem.