01/08/22

Full Harvest Is An Online Marketplace for Imperfect Produce

The San Francisco-based company’s B2B platform and spot market is building a better food system by digitizing the produce supply chain and helping farmers sell their “ugly” and surplus products.

Working with names both big and small in the food and beverage and processor and grower industries, including Danone North America, SVZ, and Tanimura & Antle, among others, the Full Harvest platform uses a matching algorithm to pair food buyers with food sellers. The business-to-business solution includes an audit and verification process to match available rescued produce with the exact needs of buyers. As a result, Full Harvest’s rejection average is 1 – 2%, compared to an overall industry rate of nearly 10%. A majority of the food industry still operates using legacy models and materials, with companies often doing business using pen, paper, and fax machines. Full Harvest aims to automate the buying and selling process and remove not just the extra paperwork and time it takes, but also the food waste it generates.

Around 40% of food is annually lost or wasted globally, creating an estimated economic loss of $2.6 trillion. There is no one problem underlying the waste, which occurs throughout the entirety of the food system at every stage during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, all the way to consumer consumption. Food waste and loss, at such a scale and with global problems of poverty and hunger, is not just a social issue it is also a major part of the negative impact agriculture has on climate change. Food waste accounts for over 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions every year, as well as exacerbating other environmental issues like soil degradation, fertilizer runoff, water usage, and a laundry list of other compounding effects.

By sourcing fruit, vegetables, and other produce products through the Full Harvest platform that would have otherwise gone to waste, buyers are able to answer growing consumer demand for more sustainable food options, and farmers are able to tap into an additional revenue stream. Full Harvest takes a percentage of every marketplace transaction, and the company, which just raised a $23 million Series B round, has tripled its revenue over the past year.

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This article originally appeared in the PSFK report, Product-Led Innovation Driving Sustainability in Retail.