food waste Archives

Ozharvest and chef Matt Moran step in to revive subscription produce startup Good & Fugly as the founders depart

Simon Thomsen - May 28, 2025 3 MIN READ

The founders of social enterprise Good & Fugly have departed the business suddenly after five years, with OzHarvest Ventures and chef Matt Moran looking to give the “ugly” fruit and vegetables subscription service a second life. Cofounders Richard Tourino and Jonathan Englert announced that the Sydney startup had “ceased trading under our leadership, effective immediately”… Read more »

Business

Food waste startup Goterra is getting into the hotels business

Simon Thomsen - August 5, 2024 2 MIN READ

Climate startup Goterra is continuing to kick goals in industry collaborations, with the country’s largest hotel, the 878-room Hyatt Regency Sydney, installing the modular food waste management system onsite. It’s the second version of Goterra’s compact unit, which can also be found at Melbourne Airport, where fly larvae munch through more than two tonnes of… Read more »

Olympia Yarger and City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore

Climate Tech

HI FLYERS: City of Sydney gets behind Goterra’s food waste system

Simon Thomsen - June 21, 2024 2 MIN READ

The City of Sydney is hoping to turn up to 600 tonnes of food waste into animal feed and fertiliser as part of a year-long trial with climate tech startup Goterra. Goterra recycles food waste using modular maggot-based robotic systems. Founder Olympia Yarger developed the system, which uses black soldier fly larvae to eat through… Read more »

Funding

Food redistribution startup Yume lands $2million Seed raise

Simon Thomsen - January 30, 2024 2 MIN READ

Food redistribution platform Yume has raised $2 million as a Seed round as it looks to address food waste by connecting food manufacturers with surplus stock with businesses and charities that can use it. The round was led by Investible via its Climate Tech Fund, Investible’s Early Stage Fund 2 and Club Investible syndicate, with… Read more »

Business

Blackbird-backed food waste startup Bardee sacks 30 staff

Simon Thomsen - August 7, 2023 2 MIN READ

Blackbird-backed Melbourne food waste recycling startup Bardee has cut most of its workforce, around 30 employees, who are waiting for outstanding payments, as it struggles to raise more capital amid a range of issues. Staff lost their jobs in May, with The Australian reporting the job losses last week. Bardee was founded in 2019 by… Read more »

Funding

Subscription produce startup Good & Fugly raises $530,000 via crowdfunding

Simon Thomsen - August 12, 2022 2 MIN READ

Investors have demonstrated a healthy appetite for Sydney social enterprise Good & Fugly, which has raised $528,628 from 652 backers in a crowdfunding campaign. The business was seeking up to $1.5 million at $1.59 a share at a pre-raise valuation of $13.52 million. Good & Fugly offers standalone and subscription boxes of “ugly” fruit and… Read more »

Advice

Byron Bay agtech Munch Crunch Organics is building a sustainable model to meet demand for fresh produce

Gina Baldassarre - June 18, 2018 4 MIN READ

The vision for Munch Crunch Organics is not to compete with the big retailers but to provide a sustainable and affordable model to meet demand for produce.