COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Whole Foods former Co-CEO Walter Robb is adding his food industry star power to Colorado Springs-based FoodMaven, a company that redistributes “oversupplied food” from suppliers to buyers through an online marketplace. Robb, who stepped down from his role at Whole Foods at the end of last year, has joined the startup’s Board of Directors, as well as invested what FoodMaven CEO and Co-Founder Patrick Bultema called a "significant" and “sizable" sum.

"FoodMaven is going straight at the growing challenge of food waste and has created an imaginative and innovative market-based approach to using more of what we produce," said Robb. "I am excited to join with Patrick and team to help with this effort and grow the company."

FoodMaven has said its business model complements the big food system by acquiring high-quality food from oversupply, imperfects, and local products, and through the use of its Internet marketplace and logistics system, the company is able to re-sell and deliver what it refers to as “lost food.” “We believe that the food system needs a 'back-to-the-future' play—an agile hybrid of the best of local, and the best of the current big food system, seamlessly blended together," said Bultema.

In the next five years, the startup will look to expand to up to 100 major cities in the next five years. According to a press release, FoodMaven has a someday goal of $1 billion in revenue and 8,000 employees.

"Walter is one of the most influential people in the U.S. food system, and we are thrilled to welcome him as a significant investor, trusted advisor, and member of our Board of Directors," said Bultema. "His decades of thought leadership in the food industry, experience at Whole Foods Market, and most recently his involvement in Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods, will be instrumental as we continue to grow FoodMaven and transform how we think about the big food system."

FoodMaven has put an emphasis on being a solution for all walks of the food industry, offering quick delivery times, cheap prices, and high-quality to restaurants, kitchens, and other buyers, while providing an avenue to make a profit on products that would otherwise be lost as food waste to grocery distribution centers, food distributors, and producers.

Now in a final push to build in the Front Range metro areas of Colorado, FoodMaven plans to roll out its services nationally in 2018. Want to learn more about the company Walter Robb has signed on to play for? Visit foodmaven.co.

FoodMaven