Matriark Foods, Nyack, NY

Fighting foodwaste with delicious, versatile, cost-effective, upcycled food products.

About Matriark Foods

Matriark Foods is a pioneer in the upcycled food movement, founded in 2018 by Anna Hammond as a response to the global environmental crisis related to foodwaste.

Matriark Foods makes delicious, healthy, versatile chef products for foodservice while reducing foodwaste. They work with farmers and aggregators to make use of the 40% of vegetables that would otherwise go to waste in the fields. They also work with fresh-cut facilities to use, instead of discard, the hundreds of thousands of pounds of remnants from fresh-cut programs (carrot and celery tops and tails; broken onion slices). Every case of Matriark Food diverts 10 pounds of vegetables from landfill.

Matriark Foods products are shelf-stable concentrated purees packaged in recyclable cartons, transforming surplus and remnants into flavorful, cost-effective food products for the benefit of people and nature.

Why Matriark? Matriarch. Our grandmothers were thrifty, comforting, and strong. They lived through wars and had to stretch meals, so they learned to make a lot out of a little, make it taste good, be filling and nutritious. They lived by the motto “fix it, don’t toss it”. They fixed morsels into meals and there was always room for one more guest at the table. Ark. An Ark represents protection and safety. It is the beloved story of a family of people and animals responding to an environmental disaster by preserving one another.

Matriark Foods

“I am in charge of preparing over 4,500 healthy meals a day and Matriark Foods Vegetable Broth Concentrate allows me to deliciously and cost-effectively increase the vegetable component in any dish. Diluted, it’s a great base for building healthy, low-sodium soups. I also use it full-strength in rice dishes, baked pastas, grain bowls, sauces, gravies, and condiments to add flavor and veggies. It’s now an everyday staple in our pantry and it's important to me that we can tell students that what they're eating is helping the environment.”

 

Andrew Benson, Executive Chef and Food Service Director, NYC charter school