Produce going bad is no secret: 50% of the shelf life is already gone before you can visually detect that the fruit has gone bad. Fresh Surety is working on solving the problem with "real time freshness reporting anywhere in the world for a few cents per carton."

It could really change the world. As we covered in the Bluecart episode, this startup is founded on 10X thinking.

Over the past 30 years as founder and CEO Tom Schultz has guided multiple technology companies from concept to liquidity event, including IPO, NASDAQ listing, and nine-figure exit. I recommend this episode to everyone:

• Going through the process, concept all the way to exit
• Being the senior guy among the young Food X startup community
• How to correct your "bad ideas"
• What Tom learned at Dole Foods
• The concept behind Fresh Surety
• Advantages of raising venture money
• Tips for food startups after being in the game 30+ years
• The two key points that must be proved to investors

Selected links from the show: Fresh Surety A Simple Explanation of The Internet of Things

Ryan Wiltse was working as a CPA. Common to many guests on the show, along with his cofounder, he realized that they wanted more than the status quo; a higher calling than the "cubicle finance life".

So they founded a healthy snack food company out of Brooklyn. Their first product is named ProTings, A vegetable snack with 15 grams of protein per serving. Ryan explains the "why" behind the product, the problem they solve and how they are growing the company:

• Marketing at fitness and bodybuilding events
• On nutrition label panels and balancing taste, ethics, and health
• Distribution strategies for the company (You can find it at Wegmans!)
• Usability advantages of their snack
• The transition from full time job to startup mode
• Making it work financially as a startup in NYC
• Why Qwest nutrition has had phenomenal growth + success
• The Food X Cohort - how it has helped the company
• Raising capital and the future
• Advantages of a finance/accounting background in running a food startup

Selected links from the episode: Protings Contact Ryan - contact Ryan. Qwest Nutrition Rabobank

"We've noticed that most restaurants don't put much effort into their menus, which is their most important tool for selling their food."

Bite was founded in 2015 by two friends who set out to transform the way restaurants sell to their guest experience. They offer restaurants digital menus that can be easily updated, are more visually appealing, and do a better job of explaining the entrees.

I learned a lot in this interview. Jeff educates us on their mission and strategy for getting Bite into thousands of restaurants nationwide:

• Communicating the unique value proposition
• What is most important in selling new clients and more importantly KEEPING them.
• Learnings from the sales/marketing process
• Understanding exactly who your customers are
• How they scaled their solution to offer Bite remotely anywhere in the country
• On being a disruptive company and overcoming the resistance to change

Hey FSP Community. The last 10 guests have a common theme. They solved either their own problem or a problem they saw in the world. I share my thoughts on each. This is a great refresher episode and a way to start exploring the last 10 guests. Have a listen!

Selected Links From This Episode:

Episode 92 – On Becoming a Rockstar Social Entrepreneur – Lisa of Kuli Kuli

Episode 91 – Breaking the Rules to Better a Supply Chain – Karl of Direct Origin/Swillings Coffee

Episode 90 – “Will you help me bring this fruit to the US?” – Linh and Myron of XOI Company

Episode 89 – Building a Community in NYC – Ashly of Barley + Oats

Episode 88 – How to Crush Kickstarter & Business – Lisa Q. of NOMIKU

Episode 87 – American Hemp, Activism, and Life on the Bourbon Trail – Chad Rosen of Hemp Foods America

Episode 86 – Natural Prophets, Whole Foods and Advice for Millennial Food Entrepreneurs

Episode 85 – How to Build a Brand Using Art, Values, and Experience Design – Jody Levy of WTRMLN WTR

Episode 84 – How to Create Impactful Editorial Content – Jeffrey of The New Food Economy

Episode 83 – Making Shrimp Great Again – New Wave Foods

Roughly six years ago, Lisa was in the Peace Corps in a remote village of Niger. Eating a limited vegetarian diet, she was feeling malnourished. On discovering the superfood moringa, she solved her "sluggish energy" problem. And she decided to use moringa as a vehicle to solve problems for others.

Fast forward to today, her company Kuli Kuli foods is a thriving business making a positive social impact in West Africa and Haiti.

Before Kuli Kuli, Lisa wrote political briefings for President Obama in the White House, served as a United Nations Environment Programme Youth Advisor and worked at an impact investment firm in India. Lisa shares her story:

• On a life of service and becoming a social entrepreneur
• Why she mentors young women entrepreneurs
• Social impact in the non-profit sectior vs "business"
• Life in Niger
• Limitations of the non-profit sector
• Turning Moringa into reality
• The quality control of unknown superfoods in the US market
• Obstacles she has had to overcome

Selected links from the show: Kuli Kuli Foods Cheryl Sandberg Peace Corps

Photo Credit: Kuli Kuli Foods (link)

For every 20 lots of coffee Karl tastes, only 1 makes the cut

Karl Wienhold has some stories to tell. He frequently has to

My favorite story is Karl's effort to change a supply chain and

Selected Links From The Episode:

About Jack Swilling: "Swilling was a

Swilling founded the city of Phoenix, Arizona.

The title of the episode is a question from Bkrong, an Ede (ethnic minority group) farmer from Vietnam. Bkrong was also the host mother of Linh, cofounder of XOI company.

Linh Tran and Myron Lam met on a 2013 trip to Vietnam on a research grant from Brown university. There, they discovered the Gac fruit growing in Bkrong's backyard.

Upon further research, they realized Gac fruit was packed with beta-carotene and lycopene; a new superfood was born.

How could they bring the Gac fruit to the U.S. and include the Ede in the process? This episode tells their story:

Selected links from the episode:

XOI Company

XOI IndieGoGo Campaign ($34,611)

Gac Fruit

The Ede People

Tessa Stuart Author Page

Ashly Yashchin created Barley + Oats to solve a problem. She was pregnant and worried about her baby's health. So, she learned and practiced a healthy pregnancy diet.

9 in 10 women are micronutrient deficient, affecting their fertility, pregnancy and postpartum experience. Ashly is quickly establishing herself as an expert in the space. But first she had to become accepted by the community:

Mentioned in the episode:Barley + OatsDemeterBarefoot BlondeUber RushPremium Rush (the movie I couldn't recall)

NOMIKU was born from two successful Kickstarter campaigns that totaled over $1.3 million and have thousands of units in homes and restaurants around the world.

Lisa Q. Fetterman, the co-founder and CEO, is equally gifted and inspiring.

She launched the first home sous vide immersion circulator machine on the market. Yes, you've tried sous vide cooked food even if your not familiar with the term. I wasn't. Top restaurants, Chipotle, they all use this cooking method.

Lisa has been featured in Wired, Make, CNET and Forbes, and was named on both Forbes and Zagat Survey’s 30 Under 30 lists for her pioneering work in the food space.

Her book Sous Vide at Home is available on preorder from Amazon now. On top of all that, Lisa is a YCombinator graduate, where she worked on the app Tender.  Lisa takes us to school:

Selected links from the episode:

NomikuYC-Backed Nomiku, Maker of An Affordable Sous Vide Machine, Gets Into Software With Tender AppLisa's Crowdfunding CourseRaising over $1 milion on Kickstarter, graduating from Y Combinator and being married to a co-founder — Lisa Fetterman, CEO of Nomiku, produces sous vide cooking applianceSous Vide At Home

Chad Rosen is nicknamed "Hemp Man" in New Castle, Kentucky. A California transplant, he is spearheading the movement for industrial grown US hemp.

Watch the video (and support) his IndieGogo to learn why hemp is so important to the economic, environmental, and nutritional future of the United States.

U.S. legislation is severely restricting the hemp movement. But not for long. Chad is on a mission for federal change. And it starts in Henry county, Kentucky which is on its' way to becoming the agricultural center for the hemp crop in America.

If you're interested in starting a movement and/or becoming an activist, learn from Chad:

Selected links from the episode:Hemp Foods AmericaSupport Hemp Foods America on IndieGogoThe Hemp ManifestoSunStrandsRules for RadicalsHemp History Week