Sharing Excess

Food Rescue and Hunger Relief Servicessharingexcess.com

Sharing Excess is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2018, that uses its proprietary Surplus logistics platform to rescue over 2 million pounds of surplus food weekly from grocers, wholesalers, and farmers and redistribute it to more than 2,000 hunger-relief locations across 36 states.

Company typePrivate
Founded2018
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, United States
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What Sharing Excess does

Sharing Excess is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2018, that operates a national food rescue operation bridging edible surplus from grocers, wholesalers, farmers, and manufacturers with hunger relief organizations across 36 states. The organization rescues more than 2,000,000 pounds of food weekly and distributes to over 2,000 locations through a hub-and-spoke model supported by refrigerated vans, box trucks, system-owned warehouses, and 63 active university and community chapters. Since inception, it has cumulatively fed over 10 million people and delivered nearly 100 million meals to food banks, shelters, school meal programs, community fridges, and soup kitchens.

The operational backbone is the proprietary Surplus platform: a React single-page web application with a Hono API server backed by PostgreSQL, delivered as a Bun monorepo with end-to-end type safety via an ORPC contract-first API and a public OpenAPI specification. The platform coordinates donors, recipients, drivers, and hubs through route planning, real-time inventory tracking, hub warehouse management, and an impact analytics dashboard that calculates pounds rescued, meals made possible (using the Feeding America 1.2 lbs-per-meal standard), emissions prevented (EPA WARM v16), and retail/fair market value (ReFED/USDA). Role-based dashboards serve admins, drivers, donors, and recipients, with a Mapbox-powered geographic impact map visualizing distribution flow.

The organization is funded entirely through voluntary contributions rather than commercial sales: individual donations (with a stated impact of $1 = 12 meals), corporate and foundation grants from supporters including Beast Philanthropy, Pew Charitable Trusts, Robin Hood Foundation, Tony Robbins Foundation, Einstein Astrof Foundation, Trader Joe's, and Independence Blue Cross, personalized community fundraising campaigns, and merchandise sales through a separate e-commerce storefront. All donated funds are directed to transportation and logistics rather than food procurement or overhead. The organization holds a Charity Navigator four-star rating and an active GuideStar profile, and operates publicly available developer documentation and a public API, signaling a deliberate effort to position Surplus as an extensible platform beyond its own operations.

Sharing Excess firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Sharing Excess
Legal name: Sharing Excess
Website: https://sharingexcess.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2018
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: Sharing Excess is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2018, that uses its proprietary Surplus logistics platform to rescue over 2 million pounds of surplus food weekly from grocers, wholesalers, and farmers and redistribute it to more than 2,000 hunger-relief locations across 36 states.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Sharing Excess industry classification

Industry

Product category: Food Rescue and Hunger Relief Services
NAICS: Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)
akta.pro primary industry: Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)
akta.pro secondary industries: Emergency Food Assistance & Nutrition Response (BPADADAE), Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding) (BPAGAAAD), Food Waste Reduction & Diversion Services (Donation, Animal Feed, Source Reduction Programs) (EUAIAEAH)

Keywords

Food rescue logistics
Surplus food redistribution
Hunger relief services
Food waste reduction
Nonprofit logistics platform

Where Sharing Excess is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Philadelphia
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

Sharing Excess business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

Individual Donations: Individual monetary donations used to fund transportation and logistics operations. Stated that $1 can provide 12 meals and donations go directly to transportation/logistics costs rather than food purchases or overhead.
Corporate/Foundation Grants: Support from foundations (Pew Charitable Trusts, Robin Hood Foundation, Einstein Astrof Foundation, Independence Blue Cross) and corporate philanthropists (Mr. Beast/Beast Philanthropy, Tony Robbins Foundation, Trader Joe's).
Fundraising Campaigns: Community fundraising initiatives allowing individuals to create personalized fundraising campaigns. Every dollar enables approximately 20 pounds of surplus food rescue.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	Pay-as-you-go	Food donations are free to recipients; monetary donations support logistics

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Sharing Excess product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Sharing Excess rescues edible surplus food from grocers, wholesalers, farms, and food manufacturers, then redistributes it at no cost to a national network of hunger relief organizations (food banks, shelters, school meal programs, community fridges, soup kitchens) and community members through pop-up distributions. Operations are coordinated through a proprietary logistics platform (Surplus) that provides end-to-end tracking from pickup to delivery, real-time inventory management, and impact analytics, with over 2,000,000 pounds of food rescued weekly across 36 states.

Product overview

Sharing Excess operates Surplus as a unified food rescue logistics platform comprising multiple integrated products: the core Surplus platform manages end-to-end food rescue operations including route planning, hub inventory management, and impact tracking. The Surplus Web App provides role-specific interfaces for admins (coordinators/staff), drivers (field operations), and partner organizations (donors/recipients). The Surplus API (OpenAPI) enables programmatic access and third-party integrations. Surplus Docs provides developer documentation. The Sharing Excess Store is a separate e-commerce offering for merchandise. The platform coordinates food movement from donors through hubs to recipient organizations across 36 states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Surplus: The technology platform for food rescue operations - coordinating donors, recipients, drivers, and hubs. Includes web app, route management, hub operations, inventory tracking, and impact analytics.

Products and services

Retail Rescue Daily food rescue and redistribution service for grocery stores, restaurants, cafés, and catering halls. Sharing Excess drivers use refrigerated vans and box trucks, guided by the Surplus app, to pick up and deliver fresh surplus food to local partner hunger relief organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

Over 10 million people fed since 2018
+3 more outcomes

Companies that use Sharing Excess

Customer profile

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Sharing Excess technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: Yes
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Sharing Excess partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

Trader Joe'smajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational grocery chain partner donating surplus food through retail rescue program. Trader Joe's commits to reducing food waste by donating unsold but edible products.
Hunts PointmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor produce market partner for wholesale rescue operations. Hunts Point is one of the largest produce distribution centers, generating significant surplus for gleaning.
Misfits MarketcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOnline grocery platform fighting food waste by selling imperfect produce. Partnership for surplus produce rescue and redistribution.
LemontreeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferral partner for community food resources. Sharing Excess recommends Lemontree's food helpline for finding additional pantries and food centers.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Sharing Excess competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Feeding America: Largest US hunger-relief organization running a nationwide network of 200+ food banks. Directly comparable in mission to end hunger through food redistribution, but operates at vastly larger scale with traditional food-bank model rather than tech-driven rescue logistics.
Food Bank For New York City: Major NYC hunger-relief organization serving as a distribution hub for pantries and soup kitchens. Comparable in mission and recipient base but differs by running a traditional food bank rather than a tech-enabled last-mile rescue logistics model.
Meals on Wheels America: National nonprofit network providing home-delivered meals to seniors and mobility-limited individuals. Comparable in mission of food delivery to vulnerable populations and donation-funded model, but focuses on prepared meal delivery rather than surplus food rescue.

Direct peers

City Harvest: NYC-based food rescue nonprofit that rescues surplus food from restaurants, grocers, and manufacturers and delivers it to soup kitchens and food pantries. Operates a similar donor-to-recipient logistics model in a defined metro area, making it a strong direct comparable.
412 Food Rescue: Pittsburgh-based nonprofit using technology to redirect surplus food from businesses to nonprofits serving food-insecure communities. Direct competitor with similar tech-enabled donor-to-recipient logistics model and volunteer-driven operations, but smaller geographic footprint.

Regional players

Philabundance: Greater Philadelphia regional food bank operating in the same home market as Sharing Excess. Comparable in serving food-insecure populations through partner distribution network and accepting donations from food businesses, though with a more traditional food-bank operating model.
Caring for Friends: Philadelphia-based nonprofit collecting and distributing donated food to homebound seniors, veterans, and families in need. Comparable in Philadelphia food rescue mission and recipient base, but smaller scale and volunteer-driven rather than tech-platform-driven.

Emerging players

FoodCloud: Ireland-based social enterprise with a technology platform connecting food businesses with surplus to charities. Comparable tech-driven food rescue model but operates in a different geography (Ireland/UK), making it a regional/global peer rather than US direct competitor.
Too Good To Go: European-origin app marketplace connecting consumers to surplus food from restaurants and grocers at discounted prices. Comparable mission of food waste reduction through technology platform, but commercial (paid consumer) model rather than nonprofit donation model.
Olio: App-based platform for sharing surplus food between neighbors and businesses. Comparable in addressing food waste via community-driven technology, but targets household-to-household sharing rather than business-to-nonprofit wholesale rescue.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Sharing Excess financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Sharing Excess leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Sharing Excess funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Sharing Excess M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sharing Excess

What does Sharing Excess do?

Is Sharing Excess a public or private company?

Sharing Excess is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was Sharing Excess founded?

Sharing Excess was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is Sharing Excess based?

Sharing Excess is headquartered in Philadelphia, United States, in the North America region.

How does Sharing Excess make money?

Three revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are corporate/Foundation Grants and fundraising Campaigns.

Who are Sharing Excess's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Feeding America, Food Bank For New York City and Meals on Wheels America. Direct peers are City Harvest and 412 Food Rescue. Regional players are Philabundance and Caring for Friends. Emerging players are FoodCloud, Too Good To Go and Olio.

Does Sharing Excess have an API?

Yes. Surplus provides a public API with OpenAPI specification for developers to integrate with and build on the platform. The API is contract-first using ORPC (typed RPC framework). Developers can access endpoints for routes, hubs, organizations, analytics, collections, distributions, and inventory management. The API generates a public OpenAPI spec automatically from the ORPC contract. Developer documentation is at surplus-api.sharingexcess.com/openapi.

What industry is Sharing Excess in?

Sharing Excess's product category is Food Rescue and Hunger Relief Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAEAA, Food Assistance & Food Banks, with a secondary code of BPADADAE, Emergency Food Assistance & Nutrition Response. Its NAICS code is 62421.