B2B online marketplace, Yume, has been recognised for its outstanding leadership in the food waste arena, winning the Small Business category at the prestigious Banksia Awards.
More than 7.3 million tonnes of food is discarded in Australia each year and 55 per cent of that occurs in the commercial food sector before it hits the supermarkets, at farms, food manufacturers and wholesalers.
Yume works with leading food manufacturers such as Kellogg’s and Mondelēz, to help provide an answer to food wastage and to develop new and safe paths to market for their products through its B2B online marketplace.
Through its partnerships, Yume has sold more than 2.4 million kilograms of quality surplus food, returning $7.5 million to Australian primary producers and manufacturers, and successfully diverting this food away from landfill.
Yume is one of only three companies globally, which are using technology to offer an innovative market for surplus food. It has also saved an estimated 499 million litres of embodied water and prevented 8,460 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released.
Katy Barfield, Founder and CEO, Yume, was honoured by the recognition.
“It is only through collaboration and a whole of industry and government approach that we will be able to transform our industry,” she said.
“We’re urgently calling on all food manufacturers and primary producers to join Yume, so that we can help prevent this food, which takes time, money and valuable resources to grow, pick, pack and distribute, from going to waste.”