Food startup Hungryroot uses AI to reduce climate-disrupting waste

There is so much food waste in the US that roughly a third of the amount produced ends up in landfills rather than stomachs. This leads to redundant requirements for production, packaging, storage and delivery, all of which contribute negatively to climate change.

A recent study published in the journal Science, found that food production accounts for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Food delivery services like HelloFresh, Blue Apron and EveryPlate mitigate this somewhat by sending users what they need for specific recipes.

A New York-based startup called Hungryroot is going one step further. The nine-year-old company — using artificial intelligence, of course — provides a more curated experience and delivers the exact amount of food the user will use.

Customers answer a bunch of questions about food likes and dislikes, allergies, health goals, and how and when they cook. Hungryroot’s technology infers which recipes and food items are best for each customer.

“Hungryroot is completely designed to give you exactly the foods you’ll need for your week,” Ben McKean, the company’s CEO, told CNBC. “And it gives you simple recipes so you know exactly what to do with them, and as a result, food waste for our customers is greatly reduced.”

Hungryroot sends users a list of what’s in their weekly cart, allowing them to approve or change items. The company is also able to reduce its own waste. If it finds that a consumer doesn’t have a preference between broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and the company happens to have more broccoli in stock, that’s what they’ll recommend.

The company says its processes help achieve 80% less food waste in its facilities compared to a traditional supermarket.

Investors say the unique model is good for the bottom line, too.

“They’ve been profitable for three or four years, which is unusual for a lot of these e-commerce and food businesses,” said Jeremy Liu, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “They’ve been able to achieve this through cost efficiency and because they’ve built a business that customers really like.”

In addition to Lightspeed, Hungryroot is backed by L Catterton, Crosslink Capital, Karp Reilly and Lerer Hippeau. The company has raised a total of $75 million.

— CNBC climate producer Lisa Rizzolo contributed to this piece.