What Grassroots Grocery does

Grassroots Grocery is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit food justice organization founded in 2020 in the Bronx, New York City. It rescues surplus fresh produce from Hunts Point Market and redistributes it to food-insecure communities through a volunteer-powered network of Saturday Produce Parties, 30+ hyper-local distribution sites, and 8 community fridges, serving an average of 1,500+ families per week and over 3,000,000 pounds of produce distributed cumulatively since founding.

The organization's operating model is community-led and hyper-local. Its Rapid Rescue program, launched in March 2021, has moved nearly 500,000 pounds of excess produce from Hunts Point Market to neighborhoods that traditional food banks cannot economically reach, including doorknob deliveries for homebound residents. Distribution is executed through 9,000+ volunteers, student food rescue clubs, tenant association leaders, and self-governing food justice committees attached to each community fridge; the organization also runs a structured group-volunteering program for corporate teams and a Student Food Recovery Task Force. There is no proprietary technology platform disclosed: the digital footprint consists of a Squarespace-hosted website, social media channels, a donor support portal, and a volunteer-built 'Food For All' app recognized in the 2024 Congressional App Challenge.

Grassroots Grocery does not charge recipients and generates no product revenue. Funding comes from individual donations (including a recurring monthly 'The Garden' program), corporate sponsorships, and fundraising campaigns such as the 'Deliver Double' initiative and Facebook fundraisers; a single FeedNC 'Gather at the Table' event in May 2023 raised $308,000. Strategic partners include Hunts Point Market (primary supply), Rap4Bronx (early network growth), World Central Kitchen, and a February 2024 Bronx coalition with Sharing Excess, Services for the Underserved, and Friendly Fridge Foundation to coordinate community-fridge supply. The organization is led by founder and CEO Dan Zauderer and Chief Operating and Technology Officer Jordin Motzkin, operates with 11-50 staff, and holds a four-star nonprofit rating in 2025.

Name

Grassroots Grocery

Legal name

Grassroots Grocery

Website

https://grassrootsgrocery.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Grassroots Grocery is a Bronx-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that rescues surplus produce from Hunts Point Market and distributes it weekly to 1,500+ food-insecure families through volunteer-led Produce Parties, 8 community fridges, and 30+ hyper-local sites across NYC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Rescue and Redistribution Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Fresh Food Subscription/CSA & Produce Box Retail (CRAHAHAG)

Keywords

• Food rescue services
• Community fridge network
• Food justice nonprofit
• Surplus produce distribution
• Volunteer food relief

Headquarters

HQ city

Bronx

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: The organization raises funds from individual donors through its website, including one-time donations and monthly recurring contributions through The Garden donor program.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors contribute financially to support food rescue operations. The sponsor page displays logos of multiple corporate sponsors.
3. Fundraising Campaigns: Grassroots Grocery runs fundraising campaigns including Facebook Fundraisers, online fundraisers, and community fundraising initiatives such as Deliver Double campaigns.
4. Food Rescue (In-Kind): The organization receives surplus produce from Hunts Point Market and food business partners at no cost, which forms the primary supply for its distribution operations. This is an in-kind revenue stream that enables the charitable mission.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Grassroots Grocery is a nonprofit food justice organization that rescues surplus fresh produce from Hunts Point Market and redistributes it to food-insecure New Yorkers through Saturday Produce Parties, a network of 8 community fridges, and 30+ hyper-local distribution sites across the Bronx and Manhattan. The organization mobilizes 9,000+ volunteers to sort, transport, and deliver an average of 10,000 lbs of rescued produce each Saturday, reaching 1,500+ families weekly.

Product overview

Grassroots Grocery is a nonprofit food rescue organization that operates a network of community fridges and hyper-local food distribution sites across New York City, primarily serving the Bronx and Manhattan. The organization runs the Rapid Rescue program (which rescues excess produce from Hunts Point Market and delivers it directly to communities), maintains a network of community fridges, and organizes weekly Produce Parties for food distribution. Additional offerings include student engagement programs, corporate volunteer opportunities, and a monthly donor program called The Garden. The organization functions as a distributed network coordinated by volunteers and community leaders rather than a traditional product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rapid Rescue Program
• Community Fridges Network
• Saturday Produce Parties
• The Garden Monthly Donor Program
• Corporate Group Volunteering
• Student Food Recovery Engagement

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000,000+ pounds of fresh produce distributed since founding
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hunts Point MarketcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHunts Point Market is the primary food source for Grassroots Grocery's Rapid Rescue program. The organization rescues surplus produce from this market, which is described as one of the biggest produce markets in the world and the largest produce market in the U.S. Grassroots Grocery rescues an average of 10,000 lbs of produce each Saturday from this market.
• Rap4BronxcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRap4Bronx acted as a hub for produce distribution and introduced Grassroots Grocery to community leaders including Angela T. of Throggs Neck Community Alliance. It facilitated the early expansion of Grassroots Grocery's network in the Bronx.
• Sharing ExcesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSharing Excess partnered with Grassroots Grocery and Services for the Underserved through a new nonprofit partnership announced in February 2024 to combat food insecurity in the Bronx. Sharing Excess supplies food to community fridge programs. According to Sharing Excess, an estimated 900 million meals are wasted each year while 34 million people do not regularly have enough to eat.
• Services for the UnderservedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerServices for the Underserved partnered with Sharing Excess and Grassroots Grocery as part of a new nonprofit partnership announced in February 2024 to bolster Bronx community fridges.
• Friendly Fridge FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRun by Selma Raven and Sara Allen, the Friendly Fridge Foundation participates in the community fridge partnership program alongside Grassroots Grocery, Services for the Underserved, and Sharing Excess.
• GrubHubminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGrubHub partnered with Grassroots Grocery, Sharing Excess, and DJ Funk Flex to support the 'Funk Flex Feeds the Block' event in September 2023, providing thousands of pounds of fresh food to the Bronx community.
• DJ Funk FlexminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFamous Bronx DJ partnered with Grassroots Grocery, Sharing Excess, and GrubHub for large-scale food distribution events at PS 078X/Anne Hutchinson School in September 2023, distributing thousands of pounds of fresh produce to the community.
• FeedNCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFeedNC's 'Gather at the Table' event in May 2023 raised $308,000 to supply neighbors with fresh and nutritious meal options through Grassroots Grocery.
• World Central KitchencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld Central Kitchen collaborated with community leaders including Mohammed Beshir Kabore during COVID-19, providing about 500 plates a day to various communities. Grassroots Grocery connected with community distributors through this network.
• Gotham PantryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDouglas Silver from Gotham Pantry collaborated with Claudia Perez at George Washington Houses to create a community fridge, which subsequently became part of the Grassroots Grocery network.
• Food Business Partners (Wholesale Produce Distributors, Restaurants, Bodegas)coreOthersFrom Hunts Point Market to local bodegas and restaurants, the generous contributions of food business partners make Grassroots Grocery possible. The organization picks up surplus food from these partners and distributes it to neighbors in need.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Friendly Fridge Foundation: Community-fridge operator named as a current Grassroots Grocery partner, with a near-identical community fridge operating model and target beneficiary population.
• Hungry Harvest: Mission-driven produce rescue and delivery organization recovering fruits and vegetables from wholesalers to deliver to families — comparable produce rescue and last-mile distribution mechanics, though with a subscription revenue model.
• Sharing Excess: A nonprofit food rescue organization specifically named as a current strategic partner of Grassroots Grocery, with overlapping food rescue and community fridge operations.
• City Harvest: New York City–based food rescue nonprofit that collects surplus food and distributes it to communities in need — the most direct local analog to Grassroots Grocery's Rapid Rescue and hyper-local distribution model.
• Food Rescue US: National nonprofit using volunteers and technology to transport surplus food from restaurants and retailers to nonprofits serving food-insecure individuals — structurally similar volunteer-driven food rescue model to Grassroots Grocery.
• Rethink Food: NYC-based nonprofit that rescues surplus food and transforms it into meals for communities in need; directly comparable food rescue and redistribution mission and city footprint.

Broad incumbents

• World Central Kitchen: Global nonprofit that provides meals in response to crises; a current Grassroots Grocery partner and a comparable food-rescue-and-distribution operator, though at significantly larger geographic and institutional scale.
• Food Bank for New York City: The largest NYC hunger-relief organization, running pantries and mobile distributions across the five boroughs. Comparable on mission and geography, but operates at a much larger institutional scale than Grassroots Grocery's volunteer-led model.
• Feeding America: The largest U.S. domestic hunger-relief nonprofit network. Provides strategic context for Grassroots Grocery's positioning within the broader U.S. food rescue and pantry ecosystem, though at vastly greater scale and through institutional food bank channels.

Emerging players

• The Farmlink Project: Student-led nonprofit that recovers surplus produce and dairy from farms and delivers it to food banks. Comparable volunteer-powered food rescue model, but operating at a national vs. NYC-only scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Grassroots Grocery