About Us
Turn food waste into your NextPlate.
Just two programmers who decided to build something to preserve our planet.
Our Story
NextPlate was built on serendipity.
What do you do when you haven't seen a friend for many years and accidentally stumble upon each other? You start a company together, duh!
10 years after moving away for college, Andrew bumped into Garwing while Garwing was out for a run in their hometown. The founders decided to reunite over lunch, which would eventually spark the partnership to bring NextPlate to life.
As programmers, both co-founders shared an interest in building a startup that would give back to the world. So, they set out on their journey.
Before the idea of NextPlate, they came up with a platform called AfterFarms. The initial concept was to rescue ugly produce from farms and sell them as mystery bags to customers; however, the logistics of neighborhood delivery or having customers drive long distances to farm locations was not promising.
After a series of challenges with AfterFarms, the co-founders discovered another way to help reduce food waste, through restaurants. The co-founders discovered that food services including restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, and cafes often throw away good food that doesn't sell through.
In fact, any forgotten orders, kitchen mistakes, or surplus food at the end of the day all get thrown away!
While food waste is one of the top contributors to global warming, 1 in 5 individuals in Los Angeles are facing food insecurity.
With NextPlate, we can help bridge this gap.
