Minister Bibeau announces Food Waste Reduction Challenge finalists 

OTTAWA — Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau has announced the 12 finalists of the Business Models Streams for the Food Waste Reduction Challenge.

Minister Bibeau met virtually with the finalists and learned about their solutions to reduce food waste.

The challenge, launched in November 2020, aims to deliver solutions to food waste in Canada.

According to the announcement from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 58 per cent of country’s annual food supply is wasted or lost. The ministry says it is critical to tackle food waste to build a more sustainable future. The Business Models Streams focus on business model solutions that can prevent or divert food waste at any point from farm to plate.

With the Government of Canada’s investment for this initiative under the Food Policy for Canada, the first round of the challenge attracted 343 applications from businesses across Canada and around the world. The 12 finalists are Canadian commercial and non-commercial organizations with entries that span a range of areas including production, inventory management, food recovery and upcycling.

Each finalist will receive $400,000 and move on to the final stage of the challenge. Over the next 12 months, finalists will accelerate and scale up the commercialization of their solution. Finalists are competing to win one of two grand prizes of up to $1.5 million.

“With this stream of the Food Waste Reduction Challenge, we would like to accelerate the development of new business models that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower the cost of groceries. Thank you to the participants for their innovations and congratulations to the 12 finalists who will advance to the next stage of the challenge,” said Bibeau in a statement.