Matriark Foods, a social impact enterprise, is pioneering the production of upcycled products to enhance the availability of healthy foods that are both beneficial for people and environmentally sustainable. The company, led by Founder and CEO Anna Hammond, specializes in transforming surplus foods and produce scraps, referred to by Hammond as “remnants,” into a range of products for foodservice retail and emergency food aid. Their current offerings include sauces, broths, soups, and stews, all bearing the Upcycled Certified label.

In an interview with Food Tank, Hammond highlighted the dual benefits of Matriark Foods’ approach. “We mitigate the negative effects that food waste has on global warming while creating greater access to healthy food for all people and extra revenue streams for farmers,” she explained.

The early phase of Matriark Foods was marked by establishing strategic partnerships with manufacturing facilities that produced items like carrot and celery sticks but did not utilize the entire vegetable. These collaborations presented a lucrative business opportunity for the partners to recover costs on previously spent resources. Additionally, Hammond noted, these partnerships contributed to a significant environmental impact by preventing these remnants from being discarded in landfills, thus supporting the company’s overarching mission of sustainability and responsible consumption.

The upcycled food movement, gaining momentum since Matriark Foods’ inception, owes part of its growth to the efforts of the Upcycled Food Association, a collaborative entity with Matriark as a founding member. This Association, encompassing over 250 companies, is dedicated to positioning upcycling as a key strategy in addressing food waste and combating the climate crisis.

One of the Association’s significant achievements is the creation of the Upcycled Certified Program, the first-of-its-kind third-party certification for upcycled food ingredients and products. This initiative not only raises awareness but also seeks to boost investments in the upcycled industry.

Speaking with Food Tank, Anna Hammond, the CEO of Matriark Foods, emphasized the importance of authenticity in the fight against climate change. “There’s always greenwashing out there, unfortunately, and you can just say that something is climate friendly,” Hammond said. “But it actually has to be climate friendly in order to do the work we all strive for.”

The Upcycled Certified label on products serves as a guide for consumers to make environmentally conscious choices. Hammond envisions a future where the use of upcycled ingredients becomes the standard, effectively designing waste out of the system. “In a perfect world, this becomes the norm,” she remarked.

Although there’s a distance to cover before upcycled products are fully integrated and accepted by consumers, Hammond believes in the power of connecting with people based on their interests and concerns to foster this change.

For more insights into the Upcycled Certified program, Matriark’s recent collaborations with food banks, and Hammond’s perspective on the evolving food business landscape, listen to her complete discussion on Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg available HERE.