Food waste is an all too real problem in the United States, accounting for 30% to 40% of the country's food supply. The US restaurant industry alone is estimated to produce around 22 to 33 billion pounds of restaurant food waste each year. Globally, the cost of wasted food amounts to $1 trillion annually according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

Food waste also presents a serious environmental problem. The World Wildlife Fund reports that around 11% of greenhouse gases generated by food production could be eliminated by simply reducing food waste.