Dive Brief:

• Georgetown University students Phil Wong and Ann Yang founded a company in November 2014 that uses fruit and vegetables that would have been tossed out due to perceived deformities. The juice is the vehicle for their social mission.
• According to research conducted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, around 40% of produce is discarded, generally due to a failure to meet the cosmetic expectations of consumers. Yang says they are working with perceptions of what is ugly and what is beautiful.
• The company, MISFIT Juicery, bottles the cold-pressed juice. The duo initially sold the product at the school’s dining hall. It is now sold at 14 locations in the D.C. area. 

Dive Insight:

MISFIT sells an estimated 700 bottles of juice per week, using fruits and vegetables obtained from farmers and community-supported agriculture programs. Wong and Yang are hoping to ramp up production after they graduate in two weeks. They plan to increase the staff through work with nonprofits to hire people who have been incarcerated or who were homeless. 

Fruitcycle, another DC-based startup, began using discarded fruit sourced at orchards, to create a healthy snack that reduces waste.