Meet The Company Redefining What Food Waste Can Be
When you think of leftovers, what comes to mind? Is it tomorrow’s dinner? Maybe a bagged lunch at work? You’ve got a few options. But what about when you’ve got leftovers of your leftovers, and it’s not enough for a full meal or even a snack? Rather than trying to make a garnish out of an entree’s understudy you can put those scraps into something meaningful — the ground.
“Food waste in North America was an afterthought. It was just ‘trash,” said Bradley Crepeau. “10 years ago, we very much felt alone on an island with what we were trying to do. There is much more attention and urgency around the problem today.”
Crepeau is a founding partner behind Food Cycle Science (FCS) and has been on the ground watching the company grow since 2011 when it became more than just an idea.
“In 2016, we realized that households were the largest contributors of food waste to landfills and thought if we could scale down this concept to operate in the home it could have a real impact,” said Crepeau. Now, 13 years later, the company has seen steady growth amid a rise in global concern about waste and the budding success of the mindful consumer.
“South Korea had some of the strictest food waste laws in the world at the time and as a result it was driving innovation in this sector,” Crepeau added. Now, 13 years later, the company has seen steady growth amid a rise in global concern about waste and the budding success of the mindful consumer.
FoodCycler will be celebrating its 10th year on the market in 2026. The latest in the product suite is the FoodCycler Eco 3. Equipped with a 3.5 liter bucket, a refillable carbon filter and separate bucket, the ultra compact form factor and low-energy unit explores new areas of the food waste frontier. So what sets this apart from other players in the category? The Eco 3 utilizes patented Vortech blade technology to grind through the toughest food scrap, including meat bones.
The soil amendment produced by the Eco 3 is nutrient-rich and a guaranteed boost for the greenery in your life.
“We believe that when building a new category and asking consumers to try something new the user experience needs to be incredible. Simplicity and convenience are at the forefront of all our designs. Using a FoodCycler needs to make things easier,” said Crepeau.
ReFED, a U.S.-based nonprofit, works to speed up the food system toward evidence-based action in an effort to stop the waste of food. ReFED opened a door to additional funding for Food Cycle Science, securing financial support from ReFED’s Catalytic Grant Fund. Now, FCS has expanded its service to the U.S. market.
“One of the most interesting data points we discovered from our Municipal pilot programs was that in many cases users of the FoodCycler over the course of the pilot started to generate less food waste over time because of how involved they became in recycling it each day,” said Crepeau. “By not sending food waste down the drain or to landfills, cities benefit from cleaner air and water.”
My Experience
Thanks to the extremely handy list of do’s and don’ts, there’s absolutely no guesswork with food recycling with this. I’ve been using the FoodCycler Eco 3 for a few weeks now, and I’ve been running the gamut with my food scraps. Rinds and peels, bones and stems, starches and meats — I’ve yet to stump this machine. With that in mind, three things have stood out to me.
- Very few things can’t be processed by the Eco 3, which is a major convenience. It’s easy to think your actions as an individual don’t have a greater impact, but when you’re prompted to consider food waste recycling you gain a new appreciation for it.
- Better for the planet means better for you. I’ve refrained from purchasing large quantities of fruits and veggies because of how those scraps attract attention in my trash, but that’s no longer a concern. My trash has gone out at nearly half the rate prior to using the Eco 3 and I’m less inclined to buy foods that I can’t use all parts of.
- Soil amendment is amazing. While I’ve been eating well with the Eco 3, my houseplants have too. I’ve been feeding them the scraps of the scraps, the leftovers of the leftovers, the entree’s understudies — and they love it. Seeing my Monstera, ZZ and Snake plants visibly healthier in a matter of days is incredibly motivating and it allows me to see the direct impact of a greener choice.
Final Thoughts
While a FoodCycler Eco 3 unit costs a pretty penny coming in at $599 CAD/$499 USD, it’s absolutely an investment to make. The units are built to last as the FoodCycler team extensively subjects the components and units to sometimes over 50,000 hours of stress tests. The company also reports there are original units from 2016 still servicing families and their food waste needs.
