The two grand prize winners of the Business Models Streams for the Food Waste Reduction Challenge are LOOP Mission and Still Good. Federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay announced the winners on March 20, noting that from farm to plate, through production, processing, distribution, retail, food service and at home, more than half of Canada’s annual food supply is reportedly wasted or lost.

The Challenge, launched in November 2020, supports high-impact solutions to food waste in Canada. The Business Models Streams focus on business model solutions that can prevent or divert food waste at any point in the food chain, from farm to plate.

LOOP Mission is a Montreal-based circular economy company that creates products from food that would otherwise go to waste, such as cold-pressed juice. The company leveraged its expertise to create LOOP Synergies—a line of ingredients made from rejected food, that would otherwise be wasted, that food processors can easily integrate into diverse food products.

Based in Montreal, Still Good develops business solutions for companies to transform nutrient-rich by-products that would otherwise go to waste to new food products, through a holistic approach called eco-valuation. For example, Still Good developed technology to turn spent brewers’ grain from local microbreweries into flour which is high in protein, fibre and essential minerals.

LOOP Mission and Still Good will each receive a grand prize of up to $1.5 million to grow and scale their leading-edge food waste solutions.

According to Second Harvest and Value Chain Management International, 58 per cent of Canada’s annual food supply is reportedly wasted or lost.

The first round of the Food Waste Reduction Challenge attracted 343 applications from innovators across Canada and around the world, which led to 24 semi-finalists, and ultimately 10 finalists chosen across Canada who brought forward food waste reducing solutions.

To learn more about the Business Models Streams and to view the Business Models Streams’ Finalist Videos, visit the Food Waste Reduction Challenge website.

Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada March 20, 2024 news release