Schreiber Foods Supporting Efforts To Reduce Food Waste
Schreiber Foods is a leading supporter of an effort by Brightly to transform food waste into high-integrity carbon credits as part of an effort to fund food rescue organizations.
According to Brightly, Schreiber topped the list of several organizations offering a combined $2.3 million in seed money to support the Boston-based organization. Other companies supporting the effort include G-Force, Collaborative Fund, Clear Current Capital, and Windsail Capital.
"As a dairy company, we're deeply committed to addressing our environmental impact,” said Blair Tritt, vice president of Corporate Ventures & Partnerships at Schreiber Foods. “Brightly's innovative approach to reducing food waste and avoiding emissions aligns perfectly with our sustainability goals."
Brightly's mission is to combat food waste, food insecurity, and climate change by quantifying and monetizing methane emissions avoided when non-profit Food Rescue Organizations (FROs) divert edible food from landfills to feed communities in need.
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas with 80 times the warming power of CO2, is released when food waste decomposes in landfills. Through its innovative approach, Brightly creates high-quality, food waste-based carbon credits that food producers, manufacturers, and retailers can purchase to offset their emissions.
"Food Rescue Organizations are the unsung heroes in the fight against climate change and hunger. Their work not only feeds those in need but also prevents harmful methane emissions," said Andy Levitt, CEO and founder of Brightly. "With visionary partners like Schreiber Foods, we're creating a financial infrastructure that empowers these organizations to scale their impact and nurture a more sustainable future."
Brightly's proprietary AI-powered platform calculates methane emissions avoided by food rescue activities using datasets, including USDA and EPA resources. These credits will generate funding for FROs, enabling them to rescue more food, feed more people, and prevent even greater volumes of methane from entering the atmosphere.
The 18-month-old startup is working to address two global challenges: hunger and the climate crisis. Food waste is the largest single contributor to U.S. landfills, releasing methane emissions equivalent to those produced by approximately 20 million passenger vehicles annually. Meanwhile, food insecurity affects more than 47 million Americans, including 14 million children, who face uncertainty about their next meal.
