Deadline: 18-Jan-21
Are you an innovator with a great solution that prevents and/or diverts food waste? Or are you trying to advance a technology that can extend the shelf-life of food or transform food waste? If so, the Food Waste Reduction Challenge is for you!
In response, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), under the Food Policy for Canada, is launching the $20M Food Waste Reduction Challenge that will include four complementary innovation streams. Through this Challenge, they want to support many great innovators out there who have high-impact solutions to tackle food waste throughout our food systems while establishing and growing their solution in Canada.
Food Waste refers to all food that is grown, harvested, processed, manufactured or prepared for human consumption, but never eaten by people. It occurs at all stages of the food supply chain, from farm to plate.
In Canada and around the world, food waste continues to increase, resulting in an overuse of their natural resources such as water, soil and land, while contributing excess greenhouse gas emissions to our atmosphere. Meanwhile, a growing number of Canadians are facing food insecurity.
Objectives
The objectives of the challenge are to:
- Reduce food waste in Canada;
- Foster improvements in food waste measurement;
- Attract new ideas, partners and resources to invest in solving the complex problem of food waste;
- Prompt new collaborations among non-traditional partners and problem solvers;
- Increase awareness of food waste among Canadians;
- Contribute to improving food security and creating jobs;
- Build the capacity of new innovators and support their entry into the market;
- Support the development of new industries, services and value-added goods; and
- Increase economic profitability and competitiveness of the Canadian agri-food sector.
Funding Information
- Up to 30 Prizes of $100,000: Open to all eligible innovators submitting a concept application at Stage 1.
- Up to 12 Prizes of $400,000: Open to all Semi-Finalists who reach Stage 2.
- Up to 2 Grand Prizes of $1,500,000: Open to all Finalists who reach Stage 3.
Challenge Streams
They are accepting applications for Challenge Streams A and B:
- Challenge Stream A: Business models that prevent food waste;
- Challenge Stream B: Business models that divert food waste, food by-products and/or surplus food.
Streams A and B – Stages
Applicants will move through three stages to compete for the grand prize:
- Stage 1 – Concept Application: Challenge Streams A and B are launched, and application intake begins on November 19, 2020, lasting until January 18, 2021.
- Stage 2 – Market Demonstration Results: Beginning in Spring 2021, Semi-Finalists selected in Stage 1 will move on to Stage 2, where they will need to demonstrate the success of their solutions with an implementation partner in Canada over an eight-month period.
- Stage 3 – Grow and Scale in Market: At this stage, Finalists selected in Stage 2 will grow and scale up their solutions in Canada over a one-year period starting in Spring 2022 and will be competing to be one of the Grand Prize Winners of the Challenge.
- The Grand Prize Winners for The Food Waste Reduction Challenge – Streams A and B will be announced in Summer 2023.
Eligibility Criteria
- Businesses and social enterprises of any size;
- Not-for-profit and charitable organizations;
- Indigenous organizations and groups;
- Post-secondary/academic institutions;
- Individuals or group of individuals;
- International applicants with a Canadian partner or an ability to register to do business in Canada are encouraged to apply.
For more information, visit https://impact.canada.ca/en/challenges/food-waste-reduction-challenge