Top 20 team in the 2019 High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge at the University of Utah. https://lassonde.utah.edu/hsuec

1. GrowGrub
Recycling unused healthy produce, benefiting local
communities.

2. Problem
The problem we have observed in our community is the amount of edible food being wasted throughout the
process of the food industry and market. Proceeding with this observation, we researched this impact we found
locally on a national level. Based on estimates from USDA’s Economic Research Service in 2010, 31 percent of food
is lost at the retail and consumer levels, which is approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food.
The food is being thrown away because they are not “aesthetically pleasing” to the marketing teams at retail
stores selling the food. Our business idea is to take the produce being wasted because of slight imperfections and
give them a new home with low-income families. For example, a cucumber that has grown at an angle or a potato
that is “too small to eat” are perfect candidates for our business idea. Furthermore, all of that wasted food could
feed many of the 46.5 million Americans, (one in seven Americans), who use food banks.
Solution
Our idea is based on helping our local agricultural economy by transporting the produce directly from the local
farms and selling their otherwise wasted food at lower costs to the low-income population of our region. The
business will be a non-profit organization and will donate the proceeds to local food banks. It will also spread
awareness about how much food is being wasted; about one-third of the food grown is not consumed or used in a
beneficial way according to a recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

3. Market
Our business falls under the market for fresh produce. Our target customer includes large families that can not
afford to buy produce, benefiting them so they can keep up with a balanced diet for themselves. Buying from our
business, consumers would be able to purchase produce with the same nutritional value compared to produce
from regular retail stores at lower costs- helping our local agricultural economy. Because of the lower prices and
proceedings go to help families in need, this sets us apart from other competitors and makes our business truly
unique.

4. Prototype