ReFED’s Solution Provider Directory is a curated database of over 1,700 organizations from around the world offering products and services to reduce food waste, spanning prevention, rescue, and recycling. The tool is designed for anyone seeking to better understand the food waste solutions landscape, as well as stakeholders looking to identify potential partners who can help advance their food waste reduction goals—including solution providers themselves, businesses, and funders.

Later this year, ReFED will be making updates to the Solution Provider Directory to improve its look and functionality. To learn more about the tool, including how it’s used and what’s ahead, we chatted with ReFED’s Director of Innovation Initiatives Angel Veza and Senior Manager of Capital Initiatives Alejandro Enamorado.

Ready to be listed in the Solution Provider Directory? Fill out this form now!

Can you provide a brief history of the Solution Provider Directory, including why it was created?

When ReFED released its Roadmap in 2016, it became clear that driving action on food waste required more than just awareness. It required visibility into who was actually providing solutions.

To meet this need, we launched the Innovator Database, starting with an Excel sheet and a few hundred organizations. Over time, it has grown significantly, evolving into today’s Solution Provider Directory.

What are some of the ways that people use the Solution Provider Directory?

A wide range of stakeholders use the Solution Provider Directory—including ReFED itself. We use it to track trends across the food waste solutions landscape and inform our recommendations for funders and businesses. For instance, if we see there is an absence of solutions in an impactful area, we can flag this gap to funders as an area of opportunity. We also use the Solution Provider Directory to identify promising solutions for our Catalytic Grant Fund and to support businesses in finding the right partners to meet their food waste reduction goals.

We often hear from funders that the Solution Provider Directory helps them understand where innovation is happening and where their capital can make an impact. And solution providers let us know that the tool helps them understand the ecosystem that they operate in, as well as gain insight into potential collaborators.

Why should a solution provider sign up for the Solution Provider Directory or make sure that their profile is up to date?

ReFED’s Solution Provider Directory is the only database dedicated to highlighting the full spectrum of food waste solutions, making it the best way to be recognized as part of the network working to reduce food waste.

Signing up and keeping your profile updated not only increases your visibility to funders, businesses, and other potential partners, but also ensures you stay informed about the latest developments in the space and ReFED’s ongoing support for solution providers (services that we are actively expanding, including the launch of Learning Labs tailored to helping solution providers scale).

Since we are one of the major users of the tool, your participation serves as an entry point to ReFED, allowing us to better serve you and keep a pulse on what’s happening in the sector.

What are the future plans for the Solution Provider Directory?

In the near-term, we’re refreshing the data to ensure the Solution Provider Directory includes the most up-to-date and relevant information for all users. We’re also improving the update process to make it faster and more seamless for solution providers to manage their profiles. In the coming months, users can expect enhanced search functionality and a visual redesign that makes it easier to navigate the tool and discover the solutions most relevant to your needs.

Looking ahead, we see the Solution Provider Directory evolving into more than just a list. It has the potential to become a dynamic platform fully integrated with ReFED’s Insights Engine that surfaces trends, gaps, and opportunities across solution categories, geographies, and sectors. We envision it tracking pilots, partnerships, and case studies, guiding users to promising innovations and potential collaborators.

While we’re still exploring how to make this evolution a reality, we’re excited about what’s possible and are committed to building a tool that adds real value to the food waste ecosystem.

Anything else you’d like to add?

If you’re a solution provider and do only one thing today, make sure you’re listed in the Solution Provider Directory and that your information is up to date. It’s one of, if not the, best ways to increase your visibility across the food waste ecosystem.

Being in the Solution Provider Directory is a way to get noticed for ReFED’s Catalytic Grant Fund or featured in our newsletters and reports. You can also learn about our services and stay connected to opportunities to engage more deeply with the community.

Visit the Solution Provider Directory to see the tool for yourself. You can sign up to be listed as well as update your existing listing using this form. And make sure you’re signed up for our mailing list to get the latest ReFED news delivered to your inbox.