Reducing Food Waste: Dr Darren Burke Of Outcast Foods On How They Are Helping To Eliminate Food Waste

Everyone is excited and happy at the beginning of a partnership; however, business is stressful and complicated. Be sure you and your chosen partners are solid and have complementary skill sets.

It has been estimated that each year, more than 100 billion pounds of food is wasted in the United States. That equates to more than $160 billion worth of food thrown away each year. At the same time, in many parts of the United States, there is a crisis caused by people having limited access to healthy & affordable food options. The waste of food is not only a waste of money and bad for the environment, but it is also making vulnerable populations even more vulnerable.

Authority Magazine started a new series called “How Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Supermarkets, Hospitality Companies and Food Companies Are Helping To Eliminate Food Waste.” In this interview series, we are talking to leaders and principals of Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Supermarkets, Hospitality Companies, Food Companies, and any business or nonprofit that is helping to eliminate food waste, about the initiatives they are taking to eliminate or reduce food waste.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Darren Burke.

Dr. Darren Burke is a global leader in the upcycling movement. As a celebrated science-based entrepreneur focused on plant-based and social impact ideas to save the planet, he has created Outcast Foods, a company using his proprietary technology and localized food supply chains to upcycle surplus fruits and vegetables into high purity, nutrient-dense, long shelf-life natural health products.

Burke is a tenured university professor who first commercialized his scientific research into a new category of sports nutrition products with RIVALUS Inc. He grew the company from inception to $22M in annual revenue in five years, followed by a successful exit. He is a frequent presenter on the topics of nutrition, cleantech, sustainability and food waste mitigation. In 2021 he was selected as an Atlantic winner for EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Burke holds a Master of Science in Kinesiology from Dalhousie University and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from University of Saskatchewan.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company or organization?

As you can well appreciate, in the world of food technology interesting things are happening each and every day. But one anecdote that I will share is that about six months ago, we were in a position where we needed to raise funds in order to sustain our business and bring this new technology to market. We were in the throes of COVID and lockdowns and in a very trying situation financially, but in March of this year, we were able to close a significant Series A raise. We had the right story and solution and the right point in time. It just goes to show that anything can happen when you’re courting investors — and a lot of it is about timing and nailing the story while demonstrating credibility.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

As most people know, being an entrepreneur means being fearless. It’s paramount. But with this fearlessness comes the tendency to take on too much. With RIVALUS I was the VP of Marketing, VP of Ops, VP of Sales, CFO and CEO all at once. Although this was very much a success story I realized I needed a strong team around me to avoid burning out. So my approach to Outcast is entirely different and, although the volume of the work is intense, I have put a strong leadership team in place and therefore, can find a way to balance life.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

There has been plenty written on the subject but for me it’s simply about inspiring others and equipping people to go out there and take risks and bring any and all ideas to the table.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

If it’s easy, it’s not worth it. I can apply this to many moments in my life — from earning my PhD to starting each of my businesses.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. What exactly are we talking about when we refer to food waste?

Food waste is rejected, cast-off produce that will get discarded despite still having nutritional value.

Can you help articulate a few of the main causes of food waste?

Aside from the obvious that people buy more than they actually consume, we also know that consumers are typically in search of the perfect piece of produce — whether it’s the flawless, shiny apple or the full white cauliflower. In this scenario, farmers and retailers are faced with the challenge of dealing with the rejected produce that won’t make it to the shelf. We also know that the supply chain presents issues — so it could be a logistical sell-through challenge, a transportation delay, or an unexpected weather event that might impact distribution and result in excess produce that needs to be diverted from the landfill and repurposed to remain in the food chain. That’s where Outcast enters.

What are a few of the obstacles that companies and organizations face when it comes to distributing extra or excess food? What can be done to overcome those barriers?

Great question. In some cases, it’s a matter of not having an end supplier who can do something meaningful with the supply (like Outcast) — so hence our goal is to continue to spread the word about our mission.

Another challenge is logistics and timing. It may be easier for a farmer to plough under a rejected harvest but of course, that’s not the best option for the environment.

Our goal as we develop our network is to position ourselves as a built-in ‘insurance policy’. The more our farmers, processors and retailers understand the seamless nature of our inbound process, the greater impact we can have on the environment and fulfill our role as a sustainable corporate entity.

Can you describe a few of the ways that you or your organization are helping to reduce food waste?

Outcast Foods is a pioneer in upcycled food — we are a category of nutrition that is so new that no one else was doing it when Outcast started a few years ago. The company diverts food waste from landfills and turns unwanted, misshapen or slightly past due fruits and vegetables into nutrient-dense, sustainable food products, such as protein powders for consumers or sustainable ingredients for food manufacturers. Ultimately, this is a rescue mission to reclaim surplus produce from key categories and partners and keep it in the food chain.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help address the root of this problem?

Certainly. We are seeing people be more conscious about the food choices they make. So being diligent around proper meal planning, embracing a plant-based diet and shopping local. At the government level, there should be incentives for businesses to adopt these creative ways to divert food waste and keep it in the food chain.

But we also need education around the upcycling movement so that the average person understands they are making an impact without sacrificing food quality or taste and simply consuming the product in a different and more meaningful way.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Get a good accountant — Setting up the company structure and chart of accounts correctly from day one. It will save you a lot of time and money later as things get busy and often pile up.

2. Hire only when absolutely necessary — It is best to be bursting at the seams with work before adding a new hire. Having people with little to do is far worse than being swamped yourself. This is a big drain financially and personally.

3. Add key people based on skill set first and fit second — I’ve done the reverse in the past and had wonderful people that fit well but quickly got overwhelmed with the work.

4. Be careful with selecting partners — Everyone is excited and happy at the beginning of a partnership; however, business is stressful and complicated. Be sure you and your chosen partners are solid and have complementary skill sets.

5. Try to build your business in an old-fashioned way on cash flow first before taking on financial partners. Building the business and customer base is important to know if you have a viable business before bringing in financial or venture partners who might have a different vision for the business than you might have as the Founder.

Are there other leaders or organizations who have done good work to address food waste? Can you tell us what they have done? What specifically impresses you about their work? Perhaps we can reach out to them to include them in this series.

ReFed (https://refed.com) has done a great job of identifying food loss and waste issues, quantifying the size of the problem, and providing resources related to solutions for the current food waste challenges.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would love to see more people embrace a vegan lifestyle. That’s something significant every individual can do for the environment. And aside from that, I obviously want to see people adopt the upcycling movement — and not just what they consume but what they wear, the furniture they buy and the everyday things they use. Diverting items from the landfill should be a priority for all — and not just recycling but finding new uses for everything and consuming less.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Yes, the author Adam Grant. I try to read two to three books a month and Adam is one of my favourite authors. His words really resonate with me. I like that he is a science-based researcher first and transitioned into being a best selling author with books about motivation, finding meaning and living our best, creative lives.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I welcome your readers to follow along with the Outcast story at @outcastmission on social media and they can find me @Doctorburke.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.