From Field to Fork — Measured.Tracked.
Canada wastes $58 billion in food every year — and has no national system to measure it. Cultivate is the data infrastructure that changes that.
Annual food waste in Canada
Of all food produced is wasted globally
G20 nations track food waste
You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure
Canada produces enough food to feed 60 million people, yet 58% of all food produced is lost or wasted annually. That's 35.5 million tonnes — worth $58 billion.
Despite this, Canada has no national food waste measurement system. We are not one of the 4 G20 countries that systematically track food loss. Policies are made on estimates, not evidence.
Meanwhile, a regulatory tsunami is building. ISO 20001 (international food waste measurement standard) arrives in 2027. EU binding reduction targets hit in 2030. Canada's own SFCR already requires traceability — waste reporting is the obvious next step.
A regulatory tsunami is coming.
Regulatory Timeline
ISO 20001
International standard for food loss and waste measurement. Compliance will be expected across supply chains.
EU Binding Targets
European Union mandatory food waste reduction targets. Will impact Canadian exporters and multinationals.
SFCR / PCP
Safe Food for Canadians Regulations and Preventive Control Plans already require traceability. Waste reporting is next.
The Vision: Food for Health
Julie Dickson Olmstead has spent 8 years mapping Canada's food ecosystem — not as a linear chain, but as a circular system where surplus becomes an investment, not a waste problem.
The Circular Value System
Click any participant to explore their role in the ecosystem
Sources
Destinations
↻ Value Returns to Growers
Compost back to soil, upcycled feed to farms, data insights to producers — the circular loop that makes the system self-sustaining.
Julie's vision — 8 years in the making
Two Sides of the Same Coin
The vision has two faces — one aspirational, one pragmatic. Together they unlock the economics.
The Vision
Food for Health
A preventive, circular system where surplus food is redirected to people before it becomes waste. Growers, processors, retailers and consumers all feed into a hub that routes nutrition to where it's needed most — closing the loop between supply and community health.
The Funding Mechanism
Food as Medicine
When food is recognized as medicine, government funding is unlocked. Produce prescriptions, SNAP-like programs, and nutrition-first policy create a reimbursable pathway — the same model that turned preventive care into a billable service in healthcare.
The insight that bridges both: if food is medicine, we can math the investment. Every dollar of surplus redirected is a dollar of chronic disease cost avoided — and that's a number investors and governments both understand.
The Value Equation
Every dollar captured is a dollar of chronic disease cost avoided.
Investment
- Surplus capture at every node
- Intelligent routing via the HUB
- Data measurement & reporting
accelerates
Return
- Reduced chronic health costs
- Food security at community scale
- Circular economy value creation
Written at the top of Julie's napkin:
“How does this data help the NEW FOOD POLICY?”
Food for Health is the vision — a circular system where surplus feeds people, not landfills. Food as Medicine is the funding mechanism — the policy framework that makes it reimbursable. Cultivate builds the data infrastructure that proves both work.
Who We Serve
Seven stakeholder groups, one connected ecosystem. Each has unique pain points — Cultivate solves them with shared infrastructure.
Farmers & Producers
No standardized way to measure or report food loss at the farm level. Regulations are coming and they have zero infrastructure to comply.
IoT-connected harvest tracking, automated FLW Standard reporting, and CEA (controlled environment agriculture) pilot programs.
Compliance-ready before ISO 20001 (2027). Reduced waste visibility unlocks premium market access and grant eligibility.
Model: Per-acre SaaS + hardware lease
Food Processors
Processing losses are invisible — estimated at 20-30% of input volume with no measurement tools. EU binding regulations (2030) will require disclosure.
Real-time throughput tracking, waste categorization dashboards, and regulatory pre-compliance reporting aligned to FLW Standard.
Identify the 20-30% loss window. Turn waste data into ESG reporting asset and regulatory shield.
Model: Per-facility license
Retailers & Grocers
Shrink is the #1 profit killer. $4.8B annually in Canada, but retailers lack granular category-level waste data to act on it.
SKU-level waste tracking integrated with existing POS systems. Predictive ordering to reduce over-purchase. Donation routing to food banks.
1-3% margin improvement from shrink reduction alone. Regulatory compliance + ESG reporting built in.
Model: Per-store monthly + analytics tier
Food Banks & Charities
Receive unpredictable donations with no visibility into what's coming, when, or in what condition. 60% of donations are last-minute.
Connected donation pipeline from retailers and processors. Predictive inbound forecasting. Nutritional impact tracking.
Transform from reactive recipients to planned distribution networks. Prove nutritional impact to funders with real data.
Model: Free tier (grant-subsidized)
Industry Associations
CPMA, CFIG, and others need member intelligence to shape policy, but have no aggregated data across the supply chain.
Anonymized, aggregated member benchmarking. Regulatory radar for upcoming standards. Industry-wide trend reports.
Become the authoritative voice on food waste data in Canada. Drive policy with evidence, not anecdotes.
Model: Annual association license
Government & Regulators
Canada is NOT one of the 4 G20 nations that track food waste. No national baseline exists. Policy is flying blind.
National food waste data infrastructure. Real-time dashboards for AAFC, ECCC, and provincial agencies. Export-ready data products.
Finally establish Canada's FLW baseline. Enable evidence-based food policy. Position Canada as G7 data leader.
Model: Data product licensing + consulting
Impact Investors & VCs
AgriTech is the fastest-growing vertical ($69.8B → $136.2B) but most plays are point solutions with no platform moat.
Cultivate is infrastructure, not an app. Multi-sided platform with network effects: every new node increases data value for all participants.
$58B addressable waste problem. Government co-funding (75% eligible). First-mover in a market with zero incumbents tracking at national scale.
The Platform
Four phases, each building on the last. From regulatory intelligence to national data infrastructure.
Regulatory Intelligence
Q1-Q2 2026
CPMA "Able" platform — regulatory radar, compliance tracking, and member intelligence for Canada's produce industry.
Food Waste Data Platform
Q2-Q4 2026
FLW Standard-compliant measurement tools. IoT integration, waste categorization, and reporting for processors and retailers.
Agriculture Data Hub
2026-2027
IoT sensor networks, CEA pilot programs, and CAAIN-funded research infrastructure. Farm-level data at national scale.
National Infrastructure
2027+
Government data products, provincial dashboards, export-grade analytics. Position Canada as G7 food data leader.
Regulatory Intelligence
CPMA "Able" platform — regulatory radar, compliance tracking, and member intelligence for Canada's produce industry.
Food Waste Data Platform
FLW Standard-compliant measurement tools. IoT integration, waste categorization, and reporting for processors and retailers.
Agriculture Data Hub
IoT sensor networks, CEA pilot programs, and CAAIN-funded research infrastructure. Farm-level data at national scale.
National Infrastructure
Government data products, provincial dashboards, export-grade analytics. Position Canada as G7 food data leader.
Global Context
The countries that track food waste are already seeing results. Canada isn't one of them — yet.
South Korea
95%Weight-based pricing system — residents pay per kg of food waste. Achieved 95% food waste recycling rate.
Japan
31%Reduced food waste by 31% since 2000 through mandatory reporting and industry-government collaboration.
UK (WRAP)
18%WRAP's Courtauld Commitment achieved 18% per-capita reduction through voluntary industry targets and public campaigns.
European Union
2030Binding food waste reduction targets coming in 2030. Will require measurement infrastructure across all member states.
🇨🇦 Canada is NOT one of the 4 G20 countries that track food waste.
No national baseline. No measurement infrastructure. No way to prove progress on federal food policy commitments.
Global AgriTech market
Building on National Momentum
Canada's agri-food sector is already organizing around measurement. We're building the operational layer that makes it work.
National Index on Agri-Food Performance
Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking • 200+ coalition partners
The National Index measures Canada's agri-food sustainability across 20 metrics and 130 indicators spanning environment, food integrity, economics, and societal well-being. Phase 4 (2023–2027) is building Index 2.0 — and their #1 challenge is persistent data gaps.
National Index
Benchmarks, national metrics, sustainability scoring. Tells Canada how it's doing.
Cultivate
Operational tools, compliance automation, waste measurement. Helps Canada do better.
Filling the Data Gaps
Farm-to-Retail Waste
Gap: No operational data collection
IoT sensors + FLW Standard measurement
Surplus Diversion Paths
Gap: No decision framework data
Decision calculator + outcome tracking
GHG from Food Waste
Gap: Estimated, not measured
ISO 14064-aligned reporting from source
Same ecosystem, complementary roles. CPMA, Food Banks Canada, Fruit & Vegetable Growers, and dozens of partners already in both networks. The Index sets the targets. Cultivate provides the tools to hit them.
Funding Strategy
Canada's grant ecosystem is uniquely aligned with agriculture data infrastructure. Two stacking layers of non-dilutive capital.
Grants
AI in agriculture
Innovation assistance
Scale Funding
AAFC cluster program
$5-8M over 3 years
Stacking strategy
75% government assistance
Maximum eligible assistance
Join the Coalition
Canada's food ecosystem needs a measurement backbone. Whether you're a farmer, processor, retailer, association, government agency, or investor — there's a seat at this table.