This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re talking about one of the least-visible but largest waste problems in the world: food processing waste. Every time fruits or vegetables are peeled, chopped, juiced, or processed, mountains of perfectly good plant material get thrown out or sold for pennies. It’s expensive, it’s inefficient, and it’s a huge climate problem.
My guest is Michelle Ruiz, founder and CEO of Hyfe, a company unlocking the massive value hidden in this “waste.” Hyfe has developed a clean, water-based technology that can deconstruct food waste into high-value ingredients—like natural antioxidants that can replace carcinogenic petrochemical additives, fibers for gut health, and eventually the bio-based molecules that could power the broader bioeconomy.
Instead of paying to get rid of waste, food processors can turn it into a whole new revenue stream — while reducing emissions and building real circularity into the food system.
We get into:
- Why food processing waste is one of the biggest untapped feedstocks in the world
- How Hyfe’s process “unlocks” the compounds inside plant material without toxic solvents
- The clean-label antioxidants that can replace petrochemical additives already being banned in multiple states
- Why fibers are booming — and how food companies want cleaner, more functional sources
- How this technology could one day replace a chunk of the petrochemical industry
- The business model: why food processors, not consumers, are Hi-Fey’s real customers
- Michelle’s journey from oil refinery engineer to World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer
- The role of circularity, resilience, and adaptation in the future food system
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