Hungry for Change
By Fengmin Gong. May 15, 2025
Every day, 25,000 people — including more than 10,000 children — die from hunger and related causes. And yet, on that very same day, nearly one-third of the U.S. food supply is thrown away.
These are not just statistics, they’re a gut punch. When we first uncovered these numbers, they lodged in our minds and refused to let go. They kept us up at night, tugging at our conscience and pushing us to ask a simple but urgent question: why?
That relentless discomfort became our compass. It led us to investigate the root causes of food waste — not just at the consumer level, but upstream, where the scale is staggering. We didn’t set out thinking we could end world hunger overnight, but we did uncover one of the biggest culprits: the seemingly impossible challenge of forecasting demand in commercial kitchens.
Imagine Disney World, where 25,000 hamburgers are served every day. Now compare that to a neighborhood burger joint that sells the same number over an entire year. The sheer complexity of sourcing, preparing and serving food at scale defies manual planning. When amusement parks, hotels or college campuses miss the mark by even a few percentage points, they’re left with mountains of surplus food and millions of dollars wasted.
Using AI to cut food waste by 90%
We founded Metafoodx to solve this challenge. I’m excited to share a major financial milestone, but before we jump into the news, let me tell you about our approach.
Our award-winning, patented 3D AI scanner is built for the front lines of food operations, capturing the image, weight and temperature of every plate or pan in just two seconds. It’s a data-powered co-pilot that helps kitchens understand not only what’s being prepared, but what’s being consumed, what’s left over, why it’s leftover and where it’s headed — whether that’s compost, donation or reuse.
By tracking food across the entire lifecycle, Metafoodx enables kitchens to forecast demand with unmatched precision. Operators using our system have seen up to a 90% reduction in food waste, translating to massive cost savings and up to a 500% return on investment. And because it integrates seamlessly into workflows and requires minimal effort from chefs and staff, Metafoodx makes it easy to cut waste, control costs and meet sustainability goals without disrupting the rhythm of a busy kitchen.
The Metafoodx ethos: powerful and practical
We knew stepping into commercial kitchens was no small feat. UMass Amherst, one of our early adopters, educates more than 20,000 undergraduate students. Feeding that many people every day demands flawless coordination across chefs, staff and suppliers. While these kitchens have ambitious goals to reduce waste and control costs, they can’t afford to sacrifice workflow or slow down service. Manually logging consumption in spreadsheets or using tools that only track what ends up in the trash simply doesn’t cut it.
From day one, we knew our solution had to blend seamlessly into the rhythm of the kitchen — compact enough to fit on a busy counter, intuitive enough that staff wouldn’t need hours of training and fast enough to deliver instant insights. That’s why we designed Metafoodx with a sleek, modern interface and powerful yet practical AI that transforms a two-second scan into actionable intelligence.
Beyond ease of use, Metafoodx offers end-to-end visibility. It tracks pre- and post-consumer waste, logs temperatures for food safety and integrates with procurement systems. Our dashboard delivers clear, actionable reports — from forecasting and menu planning to donation tracking and waste reduction — helping operators make smarter, more sustainable decisions every day. Thanks to adaptive AI, the system continuously learns, recognizing new menu items and adjusting forecasts.
We built Metafoodx not just to measure waste, but to help kitchens prevent it.
$9.4 million to scale Metafoodx for better demand forecasting
Today, I’m proud to share that Metafoodx has raised $9.4 million to help push this mission forward. We’re incredibly grateful to have the backing of mission-driven investors from Trustbridge Partners, BlueRun Ventures and ScalableVision Capital, and many visionary individuals who believe in a future where kitchens waste less and feed more. But this moment isn’t just about funding. It’s about the community of technical experts, foodservice leaders and chefs who have shaped Metafoodx from day one, ensuring we meet the real-world challenges kitchens face.
With this incredible support, we’re also deeply honored to have received the 2025 Kitchen Innovation Award from the National Restaurant Association. This award is recognition from industry leaders like Disney, Aramark and the U.S. Air Force, who see firsthand how our technology is transforming food operations. For us, it’s a powerful signal that change is possible — and it’s already happening.
Let’s fix this together
To the chefs, operators and food service leaders who are hungry for change: You have the power to drive it, plate by plate, meal by meal. Together, we can build a future where kitchens are not just places of nourishment but engines of sustainability and impact.
The problem is urgent. The technology is here. Now is the time to act. Let’s lead this movement together — because when we fight food waste, we’re not just saving dollars or resources. We’re creating a world that feeds more people, respects our planet and redefines what’s possible in every kitchen.
If you want to be part of the change, let's talk.