Zaycon Foods™ Receives Inaugural Post Harvest Waste Innovation Award from The Post Harvest Project

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zaycon Foods™, How Smart Families Buy Big and Save Big, today announced that it has been awarded the first annual Post Harvest Waste Innovation Award from The Post Harvest Project (TPHP), a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 through the support of The Clinton Global Initiative. TPHP will promote Zaycon Foods's unique business model at this year's Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting happening from September 23-26 in New York City, and will seek to raise visibility for Zaycon Foods through its work with The Clinton Global Initiative in the coming year.

"Zaycon Foods is a prime example of the positive effect that supply chain ingenuity can have on both customer satisfaction and the environment. Zaycon Foods' 'zero' waste, direct-to-customer model is revolutionary and their customers can be confident that they are buying from an environmentally friendly company," said Craig Rominger, founder and chairman of The Post Harvest Project. "We honored Zaycon Foods because they have done something remarkable in an industry desperately in need of change—they deliver food to 250,000 customers with ZERO waste. None of the retail grocery chains can make this claim."

Zaycon Foods, a privately owned company founded in 2009, has given Americans not only a new way to save 50% or more off retail meat, seafood, dairy and produce prices, but also a way to buy fresher product with less environmental and food waste. Zaycon Foods customers place orders online at ZayconFoods.com, selecting a pickup date and location at which a Zaycon Foods refrigerated truck will be coming to their area. On the scheduled day, the truck arrives at the designated location filled with farm-direct (or as direct as possible) foods, and unloads orders by the caseload directly into the customer's vehicle.

According to the TPHP, the retail grocery industry is fraught with waste. "The USDA estimates the average of fresh food waste in supermarkets to be around 15%—or billions of pounds of food!" stated Rominger. "In an industry desperately in need of overhaul, Zaycon Foods is innovating light years ahead of the rest of the industry. Zaycon's management team has the right idea about how to grow a company with its customers and the environment as its main benefactors."

TPHP gives the Post Harvest Waste Innovation Award to companies and/or individuals that are pioneering new and innovative ways to reduce post-harvest food loss. When food is wasted, all of the elements that went into bringing that food to market—land, water, feed, seed, labor, and financial investment—are wasted as well. The worldwide financial impact of such waste is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.

"Zaycon Foods was founded to save families money—but our idea encompassed much more than that," says Mike Conrad, president of Zaycon Foods. "We saw the appeal of purchasing direct from local farms and processors and selling to local customers. It's an inherently healthier, tastier, more economical way to buy and sell. We're thrilled to know that an organization with such worthy goals as The Post Harvest Project sees value in what we do. Moreover, we're excited that the attendees at The Clinton Global Initiative project—individuals as notable as Presidents Obama and Clinton—may have the opportunity to learn what we do."

About Zaycon Foods:
Now delivering to more than 250,000 registered users in more than 1000 locations across 48 states, Zaycon Foods is "How Smart Families Buy Big & Save Big." The innovative company provides families with a better way to save on meat, fish, produce, and dairy items by selling in bulk directly from the back of refrigerated trucks. The trucks deliver locally to parking lots at churches, businesses, and schools, enabling consumers to buy direct and save typically 50% compared to traditional retail prices. Customers are kept abreast of upcoming food sales events in their areas by email and via social media, and all orders are placed via a secure website. Founded in 2009 by cousins Mike Conrad and Adam Kremin, Zaycon Foods is headquartered in Spokane Valley, Washington. For more information, visit www.zayconfoods.com. 

About The Post Harvest Project:
The Post Harvest Project (TPHP) is a nonprofit organization that works to enhance natural resource yields,  reduce post harvest waste, and create economic opportunity in "Impact Countries." TPHP engages partner technologies to improve supply chain efficiency and provide sustainable business practices to increase the likelihood of long-term success. For more information, please visit: www.thepostharvestproject.org. 

SOURCE Zaycon Foods