For brother and sister duo Will Kornegay and Laura Hearn, co-founders of Farmville, N.C.-based Glean LLC, working for years at competing sweet potato growers revealed a problem with a solution that can be used across many commodities.
Glean brings in off-grade produce, things like too-big or harvest-damaged sweet potatoes, beets and pumpkins, and dehydrates them to create “super food” alternative flours.
“Our goal is to reduce waste,” Hearn says. “And we also create clean label products, and donate pound for pound to causes that address poverty, hunger and malnutrition.”
See the process here:
For Kornegay, the endeavor also is personal. Just before starting the company, he was diagnosed with a rare disease that causes severe food allergies.
“It’s really reinforced all the dietary changes I’ve had to make,” he says. “I can relate to people have had had these problems, and understand their anxieties and what clean labels can do for people who need them.”
For crops like sweet potatoes, the process can help find a place for the nearly 40% of the crop that goes to waste.
“The benefit of our process is that we can use any potato,” Hearn says. “Consumers have been conditioned to look for a certain shape, size or color. With Glean, we can utilize 100% of the crop.”
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Photos courtesy of Glean LLC