Envisible and Copia launch partnership to bring fully traceable, sustainable food to food insecure communities
Envisible, a technology-focused, sustainable sourcing company and creator of the Wholechain traceability system, and Copia, a sustainable technology company that helps businesses lessen their environmental footprint by matching surplus food with nonprofits in need, have partnered to donate Envisible’s surplus food to local organizations.
Addressing food insecurity through more sustainable and efficient supply chains
Envisible’s mission is to make supply chains more visible so businesses and consumers can make better, more responsible decisions. Those responsible decisions include helping to address hunger by ensuring no food goes to waste. Copia is accelerating toward a once improbable, now possible future: a world in which surplus is shared with those in need, instead of sent to the landfill. Both partners agree that sustainable supply chain practices are vital in ensuring food security for all.
In the United States, we throw away 108 billion pounds of food a year. With nearly 13.8 million Americans struggling with food insecurity, there is 3x more food wasted than there are hungry mouths to feed. The good news is that with the rise of technological innovations in the food supply chain industry, there are great opportunities to generate positive change.
Copia’s turn-key technology makes it as easy for businesses to donate surplus food to nonprofits in need and reduce food waste through an easy-to-use system. With Copia, Envisible is able to advance its mission of bringing traceability to food supply chains while giving back to local communities. Together, the companies are leveraging technology to improve efficiency and sustainability in the food system.
Leveraging blockchain-based traceability technology to prevent food waste
Envisible and Copia launched their partnership with a donation from Topco Associates and Big Y World Class Market. This donation leveraged Envisible’s Wholechain blockchain-based traceability technology to identify the swordfish products approaching their ‘Best By’ dates, then used Copia’s matching technology to find a nonprofit recipient for those products and measure the donation’s social and environmental impact.
The donation saved 270 pounds of perfectly edible frozen swordfish steaks, which served 225 meals to nonprofit organizations in need, diverted 1,207 pounds of CO2 emissions from landfills, and saved 26,700 gallons of water. With regular donations, Envisible will continue to generate a positive impact on the planet and in communities across the United States.
Copia’s nonprofit partner, New Opportunities, was thrilled with their first donation from Envisible. A representative of New Opportunities shared, “The way these are packaged is perfect for the community we serve. This swordfish will serve us very well. Thank you, Envisible and Copia!”
Mark Kaplan, Envisible’s co-founder, sees the partnership as part of the company’s broader mission of creating lasting food system change: “Envisible is thrilled to kick off what we hope to be a long-standing partnership with Copia. Helping achieve food security by reducing waste is core to Envisible’s mission. Copia’s platform made the donation process fun, easy, measurable, and allowed Topco’s Wholechain-enabled fully traceable sustainable seafood program to extend to food insecure communities.”
Envisible and Copia look forward to continuing to build on their shared vision of creating an equitable food system that reduces waste with sustainable practices from farm to end consumer.
For more information, visit www.gocopia.com, www.envisible.co and www.wholechain.com
