Abound Food Care

What Abound Food Care does

Abound Food Care is a 501(c)-style nonprofit founded in 2012 in Orange County, California (originally as Waste Not OC, rebranded in 2022) that operates a "food care" network spanning food donors (restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, distributors, growers), jurisdictions (cities, counties, states), and community organizations (pantries, food banks, nonprofits). Its core service suite covers Food Resource Recovery, Food Donation, Logistics Coordination, Repurposing Kitchens (including medically tailored meals and vocational culinary training), Data Collection, and Emergency Food Management. The organization addresses a U.S. food waste problem it cites at roughly 40% of supply and food insecurity affecting close to 50 million Americans, while helping clients meet California SB 1383 and analogous mandates.

The underlying technology backbone is the ChowMatch platform, which provides signup portals for donors, recipients, and volunteers, tracks donations through the supply chain, and generates the compliance reports required by jurisdictions. The organization also operates what it describes as the world's first fully sustainable solar-powered cold-storage containers, each holding up to 25,000 meals, deployed as emergency hubs and partner-side cold storage lockers.

Revenue mechanics combine three streams: transaction-based fees for coordinating food recovery between food generators and nonprofits, transaction-based fees through the Enhanced Procurement Program (a January 2025 partnership with Foodbuy, an 80,000+ member GPO, and Sysco), and professional services for consulting, program oversight, and program management sold to jurisdictions, solid waste haulers, and consultants. Pricing for these services is quote-based rather than published, and Enhanced Procurement is presented as no-cost-to-join for nonprofits while routing purchases through the GPO channel.

Name

Abound Food Care

Legal name

Abound Food Care

Website

https://aboundfoodcare.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Abound Food Care is a nonprofit operating a food care network that recovers surplus food and optimizes supply chains, connecting food donors, jurisdictions, and community organizations through the ChowMatch platform, repurposing kitchens, and a group purchasing partnership with Foodbuy and Sysco.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Recovery and Waste Management Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210), Food Service Contractors (72231)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

Keywords

• Food recovery services
• Food waste reduction
• Surplus food donation
• Group purchasing program
• Emergency food management

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Ana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Food Donation Facilitation: Abound Food Care facilitates food donations between food generators and community organizations, providing logistics coordination, tracking, and reporting services. Revenue generated through service fees associated with coordinating food recovery programs.
2. Enhanced Procurement Program: Partnership with Foodbuy (GPO with 80,000+ members) and Sysco to help nonprofit organizations access lower prices on food, products, and services. Revenue model involves group purchasing organization fees and procurement coordination services.
3. Consulting and Program Management Services: Provides consultation services for developing food recovery programs, program oversight for jurisdictions, and program management including coordination of stakeholders from multiple sectors. Offered to cities, counties, states, solid waste haulers, and consultants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Abound Food Care operates a nonprofit food care network that recovers surplus edible food from food generators and routes it to community organizations through coordinated logistics, technology-enabled donor-recipient matching (ChowMatch), repurposing kitchens, and emergency cold storage. It also delivers consulting and program management services to jurisdictions, and runs an Enhanced Procurement Program in partnership with Foodbuy and Sysco that gives nonprofits access to group purchasing discounts on essential food and supplies.

Product overview

Abound Food Care operates as a food care organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs focused on reducing food waste and addressing food insecurity. The core suite includes Food Resource Recovery, Food Donation, Logistics Coordination, Repurposing Kitchens, Data Collection, and Emergency Food Management services. These are complemented by the Enhanced Procurement Program—a group purchasing offering developed in partnership with Foodbuy and Sysco—and ChowMatch, a technology platform connecting donors with recipients and volunteers. The organization also produces content through the Food Care Focus newsletter and Plentiful Podcast. Together, these offerings form a connected food supply chain ecosystem that guides food through donation, recovery, and redistribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Resource Recovery A program that enables public sector agencies to recover excess edible food from waste generators for distribution to nonprofit agencies; includes needs assessment and food care model implementation.
• Food Donation A food recovery program helping restaurants, grocery stores, and other food waste generators reduce food waste and provide excess edible food with a second life, while capturing tax savings and meeting food-safety compliance.
• Logistics Coordination Solutions addressing logistics challenges from matching donors with recipients and safe food handling to transportation and reporting, including integrated technology and safe food handling training for logistics providers.
• Repurposing Kitchens Network of food repurposing kitchens that turns excess edible food into ready-to-heat-and-eat meals, including medically tailored meals, kitchen network coordination, and vocational culinary training.
• Data Collection Data tracking and reporting solution that helps organizations manage operations, demonstrate community impact, and meet reporting requirements, including outreach data, food insecurity screening, and tracking of donations across the supply chain.
• Emergency Food Management An emergency food program providing ready-to-eat, nutritious meals during the first 48 hours following an emergency through repurposing kitchens, solar-powered refrigeration units, and community distribution.
• Enhanced Procurement Program A group purchasing program that provides nonprofit organizations access to Foodbuy's GPO network, combining purchases with 80,000 other members for lowest possible prices on essential food, products, and services, partnered with Sysco for distribution.
• ChowMatch A proprietary technology platform enabling food donors, recipients (pantries and nonprofits), and volunteers to connect for food donation, facilitating the matching of excess edible food with food pantries and nonprofit organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40% reduction in food waste to landfills potential through food donation and recovery programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

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

• Wild ForkminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 28 January 2025Partnership for Wild Fork's 2nd Annual National Donation Day to combat holiday hunger. Abound Food Care serves as partner for food donation coordination.
• Ventura County CA Public Works AgencymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 March 2024Contracted partnership where Abound Food Care supports Ventura County businesses with food recovery services, helping the county implement food waste reduction programs.
• Foodbuy LLCcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with Foodbuy, North America's largest food purchasing organization with over 80,000 members, to help nonprofits access lower prices on food, products and services through the Enhanced Procurement Program. Foodbuy leverages extensive group purchasing power to secure exclusive discounts.
• Sysco CorporationcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with Sysco, a global food service leader, to provide reliable distribution and quality products for nonprofits through the Enhanced Procurement Program. Sysco ensures access to high-quality food and supplies through its extensive distribution network.
• OC Hunger AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAbound Food Care serves as fiscal sponsor and one of the lead agencies in the OC Hunger Alliance, uniting local food banks and community organizations to reduce hunger and build a stronger, healthier community in Orange County.
• ChowMatchcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology platform partner for food donation matching. ChowMatch enables food donors, food recipients (pantries and nonprofits), and volunteers to connect for excess edible food donation through integrated signup portals.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America: The largest U.S. hunger-relief organization operating a nationwide network of food banks; serves as the dominant incumbent in the space Abound Food Care is positioning to expand into nationally.
• Too Good To Go: Global marketplace app for surplus food from restaurants and retailers; adjacent in addressing commercial food waste but operates as a consumer marketplace rather than nonprofit redistribution.

Emerging players

• Goodr: For-profit food-waste management and logistics company serving enterprise food generators; comparable in serving the same donor/recipient matching use case but operates as a commercial venture rather than nonprofit.
• Copia: Technology-driven food-redistribution platform that connects businesses with excess food to nonprofits; directly comparable to ChowMatch's matching and logistics function.

Direct peers

• City Harvest: New York-based food rescue and hunger-relief nonprofit that recovers surplus food and redistributes to community organizations; comparable in operating model and target beneficiaries to Abound Food Care.
• Food Finders: Regional food-rescue nonprofit that picks up surplus food from donors and redistributes to pantries in Southern California; closely comparable in mission and operating model to Abound's core food-donation services.
• FoodCloud: Nonprofit tech-led food redistribution platform connecting retailers with charities; functionally equivalent to Abound's donor-recipient technology and food-rescue logistics model, though Ireland-based.
• Rescuing Leftover Cuisine: Nonprofit that uses technology to facilitate direct restaurant-to-shelter food rescue; comparable in mission and use of digital matching tools similar to Abound's ChowMatch.
• Food Donation Connection: A national food-donation facilitation service connecting foodservice operators with local pantries; directly comparable to Abound's donor-recipient matching and logistics services.

Regional players

• Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County: Regional Feeding America affiliate serving Orange County; the most direct geographic incumbent, with established donor, volunteer, and recipient networks that Abound Food Care coordinates alongside through the OC Hunger Alliance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Aboundfoodcare
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/abound-food-care

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

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 Abound Food Care