Founding An Upcycling Startup In Japan: Interview with CoCooking and Peel Lab Founders

In 2021, Japan dumped 8 million tonnes of edible foods into landfills.
Doesn’t that completely go against the #mottainai spirit? 🤔

This can be explained by Japan’s obsession with the product’s freshness and appearance, as well as the consumers’ lack of awareness about different types of expiry dates on products.

Through this alarming issue, startups in Japan see a huge opportunity to offer their solutions - 🌱 #Upcycling:

GourmetPro gathered together two of the biggest names in upcycling in Japan, Jim Huang from Peel Lab and Taichi Isaku from CoCooking, for an exclusive discussion about upcycling in Japan and what opportunities there are to found startups in the space.

The Speakers

🥐 CoCooking operates Tabete, an app which reduces food waste by matching excess food at restaurants and bakeries with conscious consumers. So far the app has rescued over 300,000 meals! Taichi Isaku co-founded CoCooking in 2015 whilst finishing his masters degree on social entrepreneurship. Fueled by his passion to encourage ethical consumerism, Taichi is in charge of the app’s product and branding.
Link: https://tabete.me/

💼 PEEL Lab is a B2B GreenTech for brands and corporates looking for custom plant-based leather products, providing material sourcing, design and manufacturing. Based in Osaka with an office in Bangkok, Jim Huang is a serial entrepreneur focused on sustainability and GreenTech. His mission is to upcycle food loss, prevent animal cruelty and reduce carbon footprint. Jim also takes interest in web3 and blockchain.
Link: https://www.peel-lab.com/

About GourmetPro
Based in Tokyo, GourmetPro is dedicated to helping the food and beverage industry grow internationally. Our network of experts combines more than 20 years of immersion, achievements and expertise in the Food & Beverage market in Japan.
At GourmetPro, we aim to build the most effective business consulting and intelligence platform to optimize the business activities for international brands to succeed in Japan.

For more information about GourmetPro:
Website: https://www.gourmetpro.co/
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