Former Whole Foods co-CEO joins board of Colorado Springs startup, FoodMaven

Did you know that about 40 percent of the food makes its way through the American food distribution system ends up in landfills without ever having made it onto someone’s plate? More than 130 billion pounds of food in the United States alone ends up in landfills each year.

A  Colorado Springs startup, FoodMaven, wants to change the situation. The company believes it can do something to reduce food waste. The former Whole Foods Market co-CEO Walter Robb, shares that vision and that is why he has decided to joined the company board. “FoodMaven is going straight at the growing challenge of food waste and has created an imaginative and innovative market-based approach to using more of what we produce,” Robb said in a press release.

FoodMaven helps chefs and consumers find new markets for surplus food from grocers and distributors. FoodMaven is an innovative online marketplace and rapid logistics company bringing agility and flexibility to the U.S. food system. The company provides high-quality local and oversupplied food – lost food – at about half price to restaurants and institutional kitchens.

FoodMaven was founded by Patrick Bultema and Dan Lewis.Their mission is to recapture the 40% of US food that is lost each year. That’s $200 billion and over 130 billion pounds of perfectly good food: lost to inefficiency. FoodMaven was named the Exceptional Newcomer for 2017 by the Colorado Restaurant Association.

FoodMaven CEO, Bultema, believes the company can generate $20 million to $30 million in revenue annually when it is operating at full speed. The company plans to expand nationally beyond Colorado. FoodMaven is growing at a rapid rate. The company has grown to 25 employees and 120 restaurant clients in in Denver. The company is currently hiring for multiple positions in Colorado Springs and Denver.