Eradicating Food Waste One Juice at a Time ft. David Cote (LOOP Mission)

LOOP Mission rescues perfectly good fruits and veggies that would have been thrown out simply for aesthetic reasons like shape and size. Then they make delicious & healthy products like cold-pressed juices (a weekly staple in host Lauren Scott's grocery haul) and more. Even their leftover pulp gets repurposed!

On this episode, we are joined by Co-Founder and Superhero (yes, that is his official title!): David Cote. 

Often described as hyperactive, David is recognized as a serial entrepreneur almost in spite of himself. This self-taught leader is so enthusiastic about life, that he sometimes has a hard time saying no to commitments. After co-founding Rise Kombucha and the organic restaurant chain Crudessence, he embarked on a new circular economy mission: eradicating food waste. That's how he co-founded LOOP Mission. Between teaching acroyoga and organizing epic parties in his rare spare time, David has managed to write seven books on living foods, kombucha and fermentation, three of which have become best-sellers, translated into five languages. He's an outspoken go-getter who doesn't hesitate to shake up traditional ways of doing business. 

In addition to cold-pressed juices made from imperfect fruits and vegetables, LOOP also offers beer made from bakeries' day-old bread, gin that repurposes potato scraps, soaps made from a restaurant chain's cooking oils, and fermented sodas that give a second life to by-products from the essential oils industry. Since the company's inception in 2016, it will have saved more than 8,035 tons of food, prevented the emission of 6,411 tons of GHGs and saved more than 482 million liters of water.

In true David fashion, this is such a fun, inspiring episode. We start by unpacking the staggering scale of food waste in North America, particularly focusing on fruits and veggies. We then demystify the concept of "circularity" in sustainability, the meticulous, data-driven planning and hands-on process behind preparing ingredients for their innovative products, their partnership with Costco (and why it almost did not happen), and David’s research on the most sustainable packaging options for LOOP. Bonus content? Listeners will also gain valuable insights from David’s entrepreneurial journey, including what your first step should be when it comes to growing your business!

Transcript

I’m not going to lie: I was completely caught off guard when preparing for this next episode with the beverage company, LOOP Mission. I initially reached out as a huge fan of their products. For the past couple of years, I have loved their amazing, locally made, healthy juices fighting food waste by repurposing the outcasts of the food industry. One of their Co-Founders promptly wrote back with an enthusiastic “why not!?” and we were off.

But here is where I was surprised: this super accessible, upbeat leader on the other end of my email exchange was actually the sustainability AND food & beverage powerhouse: David Cote. Because, in doing my research, I quickly found out that not only is David Co-Founder and “Super Hero” at LOOP, he is also the Co-Founder of Canada’s most popular kombucha, RISE. Oh, and he also happens to be on the Quebec version of Dragon’s Den / Shark Tank: Dans l'oeil du dragon!

So who is David?

Often described as hyperactive, David is recognized as a serial entrepreneur almost in spite of himself. This self-taught leader is so enthusiastic about life, that he sometimes has a hard time saying no to commitments. After co-founding Rise Kombucha and the organic restaurant chain Crudessence, he embarked on a new circular economy mission: eradicating food waste. That's how he co-founded LOOP Mission. Between teaching acroyoga and organizing epic parties in his rare spare time, David has managed to write seven books on living foods, kombucha and fermentation, three of which have become best-sellers, translated into five languages. He's an outspoken go-getter who doesn't hesitate to shake up traditional ways of doing business. 

As for LOOP, it’s a company that comes to the rescue of the food industry's unloved ones, reclaiming foods that have been thrown out simply for aesthetic reasons like shape and size. In addition to cold-pressed juices made from imperfect fruits and vegetables, this global leader in the circular economy also offers beer made from bakeries' day-old bread, gin that repurposes potato scraps, soaps made from a restaurant chain's cooking oils, and fermented sodas that give a second life to by-products from the essential oils industry. Since the company's inception in 2016, it will have saved more than 8,035 tons of food, prevented the emission of 6,411 tons of GHGs and saved more than 482 million liters of water.

Just a few of the LOOP’s accolades include being THE Canadian food industry leader in terms of the circular economy model, amongst world leaders in the fight against food waste, the #1 cold-pressed juice brand in Quebec and Canada, and amongst the best-selling gins in Quebec!

In true David fashion, this is such a fun, inspiring episode. We start by unpacking the staggering scale of food waste in North America, particularly focusing on fruits and veggies. We then demystify the concept of "circularity" in sustainability, the meticulous, data-driven planning and hands-on process behind preparing ingredients for their innovative products, their partnership with Costco (and why it almost did not happen), and David’s research on the most sustainable packaging options for LOOP. Bonus content? Listeners will also gain valuable insights from David’s entrepreneurial journey, including what your first step should be when it comes to growing your business.