California Startup Wins $2M to Fight Food Waste with Coating

A simple coating you can eat might be the answer to stopping billions of pounds of fresh food from rotting before it reaches our tables.

Akorn Technology, a startup based in Berkeley, California, took home top honors at the UAE FoodTech Challenge in Abu Dhabi this week. The company was chosen from more than 1,200 entries spanning 113 countries as one of four global winners tackling the massive problem of food waste.

The numbers tell a sobering story. About 13% of all food is lost between harvest and retail, with another 19% wasted before anyone gets to eat it. That's nearly a third of the world's food supply disappearing while millions go hungry.

Akorn's solution sounds almost too simple to work, but it does. The company developed a natural coating made from vegetable protein, wax, and oil that slows ripening, locks in moisture, and keeps produce looking fresh. The invisible layer doesn't change how food tastes or affect its nutritional value.

Founded in 2019 by a team with backgrounds in technology, consumer goods, and agriculture, Akorn already operates in Egypt and Ghana. The $2 million prize will help them expand across the Global South and optimize their coating for arid climates like the UAE, where extreme heat makes keeping food fresh even harder.

The competition was organized by the UAE Presidential Court and partners including the Gates Foundation. It's designed to find solutions that work in hot, dry environments where climate stress threatens food security.

The Ripple Effect

When produce stays fresh longer, everyone wins. Farmers earn more because less of their harvest spoils. Retailers waste less money throwing out rotting inventory. Consumers get tastier fruits and vegetables that last longer at home.

The environmental impact matters too. Food waste contributes to climate change through methane emissions in landfills and wasted resources like water and energy used in growing, transporting, and storing food that nobody eats.

Akorn is the first American company to win the FoodTech Challenge in its three-year history. They'll receive technical support, research help, and access to markets across the UAE's innovation network to scale their solution globally.

The company's next goal is building more resilient food supply chains in developing countries where loss hits hardest. In regions with unreliable refrigeration and long transportation routes, even small improvements in shelf life can mean the difference between food security and hunger.

A coating thin enough to be invisible might just help feed the world.