About Us

We are on a mission to scale access to healthy food for the benefit of people and the environment.

Matriark Foods is on a mission to reduce greenhouse gases, expand access to healthy food, and increase deliciousness.

Each year, roughly 33 million tons of perfectly healthy vegetables never make it to the table. That’s a waste of food, water, and greenhouse gases. It’s bad for farmers and the planet.

We create access from excess.

Matriark Foods is boldly changing food systems for the benefit of future generations. Matriark Foods upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, delicious, low sodium vegetable products for schools, hospitals, food banks and other foodservice.

Join us in charting a course towards a more sustainable future.

Each carton of Matriark Foods Upcycled Vegetable Broth Concentrate…

=2.25 gallons

of delicious broth

=0.9 pounds

of waste diverted from landfill

=2.23 pounds

reduction in greenhouse gases

=102 Gallons

of water saved

Matriark is built on ideas that we’d like the world to buy into, whether you buy our products or not.

1.

Delicious is obvious.

Climate-friendly food preserves the harvest at its freshest. Take care to make it delicious and respect the hard work of all farmers.

2.

Everything is valuable

Don’t waste anything. It’s all good for something, even if most people don’t know it yet.

3.

Make a better system

Systems should work for all people. What can we do to improve them?

4.

Tell the real story

Doing better starts with being honest. Let people know the facts.

5.

Be useful

Don’t forget. Every choice we make has the potential to help people.

6.

Create a path to follow.

New ideas are for everybody. Help others adopt and use them. Then think up some more.

The problem

14 million tons of perfectly usable vegetables never leave the farm gate because they are cosmetically imperfect, off-spec, or simply unharvested.*

19 million tons of perfectly usable vegetable remnants go to landfill.*

It takes $408 billion to grow, transport and dispose of the surplus — roughly 2% of U.S. GDP — with a greenhouse gas footprint equivalent to 4% of total U.S. GHG emissions.*

* Source: ReFED: Roadmap to 2030: Reducing U.S. Food Waste by 50% and the ReFED Insights Engine

Our solution

Matriark Foods works with farmers and aggregators to make use of the vegetables that would otherwise go to waste in the fields.

And we work with fresh-cut facilities to utilize the hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh-cut remnants from their food preparations.

Vegetables are lightly enhanced with spices and fresh herbs, cooked, and pureed into healthy, low-sodium multi-use bases for vegetable-forward meals.

Matriark was founded by colleagues who became friends and then business partners devoted to changing the food system for the benefit of people and the environment.

Anna Hammond
Founder | CEO

Matriark Foods is a social impact business— inspired by the thousands of children Anna has worked with (including her 3 children and 4 grandchildren) — to scale access to healthy food for the benefit of people and the environment. Anna has spent 25 years as a nonprofit leader scaling programs and teams into dynamic, and stable organizations. Most recently, she was Executive Director for The Sylvia Center and collaborated with farmers, institutions, funders, and foundations committed to solving food insecurity through education and reimagined food systems. Together they expanded healthy eating and cooking programs in public housing community centers in all 5 NYC boroughs and all 6 school districts in Columbia County.

Joyce Huang
CFO | COO

Joyce has over 20 years of experience developing business strategies and pursuing revenue growth opportunities in the banking, beverage and nonprofit industries and developing and implementing financial and operational infrastructure. She has worked at Citigroup, The Owl’s Brew, The Food Network, ABC Kitchen, Make-A-Wish and The Sylvia Center. Joyce holds degrees from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and The International Culinary Center. Joyce is also a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas.

Philip Hoffman
Director of Product Development

Philip was the founder of FoodSwing Inc. a private label co-packer specializing in aseptically packed soups and broths and acidified hot-fill pasta sauces, cooking sauces, salad dressings and salsas for Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Safeway among a roster of national supermarket chains. Philip has been involved in bringing over 100 private label and branded food products to market and brings over 25 years of experience in food manufacturing and product development to the Matriark team.

Melanie Brkich
Foodservice Sales

Melanie has a deep background in foodservice and hospitality in NYC, having worked both front and back of the house in numerous restaurants and food operations. Mel views our food system as a critical intersection of environmental and social justice and she works to operationalize Matriark’s transformative mission at scale through the foodservice accounts she works with nationally, across multiple sectors.

Hannah Zurmuhl
Retail Sales and Marketing Manager

Hannah joins Matriark with a passion for combating food waste and communicating about climate change. She is experienced in building partnerships and developing brands in the sustainable food space. Hannah was a collegiate athlete, and now spends her free time cooking, baking and exploring New York City.

We are committed
to change.

All Matriark products are Upcycled Certified, meaning that they have an auditable supply chain that proves their positive environmental impact. The impact of our products can be clearly measured. Upcycling is about doing more with less, and elevating all food to its highest and best use. Upcycled foods save energy and nutrition from going to waste. They keep the energy, the water, the land and the labor used to grow food — fully in the food system — for the benefit of the environment and people. As a founding member and current board member of the Upcycled Food Association, Matriark contributes to the policies and practices of the Upcycled Food Movement worldwide. Learn more at Upcycled Food Association

Matriark Foods uses FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified packaging. FSC certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. FSC enforces strict criteria for biodiversity, worker safety and the rights of local and Indigenous communities.

Matriark is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of their various identities, including gender, race, age, ability, ethnicity, culture, class position, economic background, religious belief or affiliation. Matriark works for health and equity through our company by igniting it within our company.

Matriark is a 1% for the Planet member and we support and collaborate with Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming.

Matriark is a certified Women-Owned Business (WBE) and we mentor and support other WBEs. It’s a fact that despite receiving less than 5% of venture capital, WBEs outperform other structures by 63%. In the words of Joan Armatrading, “If women ruled the world, it would be a good thing.”