Growing Upcycling with TJ Galiardi of Outcast Foods

Jul 14

It seems ludicrous that farmers and grocers throw so much good food away. Surprisingly, very few people have come up with solutions to this problem. Outcast Foods is the world’s first sustainable nutrition company that is disrupting the status quo of food waste using dehydration.

Today's guest is TJ Galiardi, Co-Founder, and CMO of Outcast Foods, and he joins us to talk about the explosive growth of his brand and the upcycling movement. Our conversation covers TJ’s process of working out how to dehydrate a wide range of fruits and vegetables considering that each product needs to be treated differently. We talk about the issue that while upcycling seems like a no-brainer, TJ and his partner found the process of convincing farmers and lawmakers about the benefits of repurposing surplus fruits and vegetables to be a huge challenge. Join us today and listen to TJ’s simple but highly effective solution to the issue of food waste!

Key Points From This Episode:

The idea of ending food waste by dehydrating surplus products and how TJ came up with it.
The different applications for dehydrated food; protein powder, B2B ingredient powders, fruit chips, and more.
What got TJ interested in the issue of food waste and doing something to solve it.
Challenges around convincing farmers and passing regulations to get the upcycling idea off the ground.
The evolution of the upcycling movement and the companies doing it in different ways.
Great sales Outcast Foods is experiencing and the role of the upcycling and sustainability movement in this.
How TJ got into food and nutrition and met his partner before starting Outcast Foods.
The approach to marketing and sales, the role of an online B2C model, and the areas that Outcast Foods is focusing on serving.
Why TJ became a vegan through the influence of his wife and the health benefits of the diet.
Success Outcast Foods has had in raising capital and the new facilities they are building.
The role of TJ’s partner Dr. Darren Burke in coming up with new product formulations.
The elements of TJ’s past have fueled his success in his current role.

Tweetables:

“Once you have switched to that plant-based lifestyle you start to look at other things.” —@TJGaliardi [0:08:52]

“Some of the farms that we were working with took a very long time. We had to explain to them the benefits of not wasting fruits and vegetables. People get stuck in their traditional ways.” —@TJGaliardi [0:10:20]

“We do everything from avocado to zucchini and everything in between, so to learn how to do all of those products, it took us a long time to come up with our own unique playbook of how to do that.” —@TJGaliardi [0:13:37]

“Whenever someone hears our story they say, ‘Wow, that is a great idea. I can’t believe no one else has done that, so we are just out there shouting as loud as we can about Outcast Foods and getting people along the ride for our mission.” —@TJGaliardi [0:31:59]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

TJ Galiardi on LinkedIn

TJ Galiardi on Twitter

Dr. Barren Burke on Twitter

Outcast Foods