Connecting Communities Through Food, Drawdown Georgia Business Compact Member Retaaza Bridges Gaps in the Food Supply Chain
Company’s scaled solution simultaneously gets food from farmers to those who need it most and addresses the massive problem of food waste in Georgia agriculture
During the pandemic, Kashi Sehgal saw a pressing problem in need of a solution. Farmers in Georgia were throwing out food in record numbers because restaurants weren’t placing the orders they did before Covid. At the same time, people lined up in record numbers at food banks. To be sure, Sehgal wasn’t looking to build a food-based business. However, when she went to find out who was connecting farmers who had potentially wasted food with those who were hungry, there was a noticeable gap. No one was working at scale and surely not driving systemic change in the food supply chain. “I kept seeing all these stories running side by side, and I couldn’t understand why we were throwing out food when people were going hungry,” says Sehgal. “It felt like a resource allocation issue…a misallocation.”
After an exhaustive search for an entity to support, Sehgal says, “At some point I was like, ‘I know too much. Somebody needs to do something.’ Never in a million years did I think I’d come out with a company.” Having never built something like Retaaza before, her first order of business was a listening tour. “I talked to anyone in the local food system – farmers, grocers, distributors, people who were food insecure, nonprofits, and everyone in between.” What emerged were pain points that weren’t addressed by existing infrastructure. “Because of the size of the problem, I thought we needed a for-profit scaled solution,” says Sehgal. “I didn’t want to be reliant on grants – we needed a self-funded future where revenue drives our programming.”
Today, Retaaza is a thriving B Corp, a social enterprise, and member of the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact (Compact) focused on sustainable solutions. With one out of every seven Georgians experiencing food insecurity, the need is great for a scaled solution to make local food more accessible. “I think of us as air traffic control for resources around the local food industry,” says Sehgal. “We get dollars to farmers; we get healthy, nutritious food to our neighbors; and we get education to everyone else.” The company directly supports Georgia farmers, reconnects consumers with the source of their food, and feeds families facing food insecurity. Sehgal says, “We’ll also buy food and donate it to nonprofits to use their network to get food to our hungry population.”
In the food supply chain, waste is a massive issue, something the Compact is committed to addressing with collective impact from members like Retaaza. “The scale of the problem is that 40-50% of what farmers grow is not used,” says Sehgal. “Given the Georgia agriculture industry is at $83+ billion, if you calculate 40% you’re quickly over a $100 billion.” That’s a big loss for farmers in income, but it’s also a big loss in revenue for communities and the state. Sehgal says, “When a farmer has something going to waste, they can call us, and we can use our network to find a buyer for a fair price. We say, ‘We’ve got all these tomatoes – how about cherry tomatoes instead of Romas this week? And you can help a farmer.’ They know our mission and vision, so we’re all very aligned.”
Food waste makes up more than 22% of landfilled and incinerated material in the U.S. and can occur anywhere along the food supply chain. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that food waste is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. “When food is discarded, all inputs used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, and storing discarded food are also wasted,” according to the USDA. “Food loss and waste also exacerbates the climate change crisis with its significant greenhouse gas footprint. Production, transportation, and handling of food generate significant CO2 emissions, and when food ends up in landfills, it generates methane, an even more potent greenhouse gas.” Reducing food waste is among the top-10 solutions identified by the Compact’s research, with a potential to impact nearly two million metric tons per year by the end of the decade.
The Compact has nonprofit and university partners tackling the issue, along with membership companies including Fresh Harvest, Good Agriculture, Goodr, and Retaaza, and farmers such as Longleaf Ridge Farms and White Oak Pastures. When asked about joining the Compact and the collective impact of the business community, Sehgal says, “Serving as a connector between farmers, businesses, individuals, and partners, Retaaza is focused on collective solution-building, just like the Compact is. We’re excited to see how members work together. We help companies – even those who never thought they’d buy food – be part of a fun, creative solution for diverting greenhouse gasses through their purchase of potential food waste. It contributes to their triple bottom line and helps the planet.”
Are you a sustainable business operating in the state of Georgia? Join other leading companies in leveraging collective impact of the Georgia business community to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the state. Visit Get Involved on the Compact’s website or email David Eady, director of industry engagement.