A local food tech startup has landed an international partnership with a quick-service restaurant chain.
FreshFry recently announced it has inked a global deal with Church’s Texas Chicken, in which the chain will use the FreshFry Pods to extend the life of the cooking oil at all of Church’s 1,750 restaurants across the world.
The deal is estimated to help Church’s, headquartered out of Atlanta, save approximately $4 million and 2.5 million pounds of oil, according to a release. FreshFry previously had a deal with Church’s for its U.S. restaurants. The new deal extends to the chain’s 20-plus-country international footprint.
FreshFry, founded in 2014, produces a plant-based oil purification system consisting of pods that can extend the life of frying oil by collecting and dissolving impurities (water, acids, metals and other substances that come from food), allowing restaurants to save time, labor and costs.
“As a supplier, we are always focused on future sustainability — both economically and environmentally,” said Jeremiah Chapman, FreshFry co-founder and CEO, in a release. “It is both exciting and rewarding to bring FreshFry’s global deal to life with a 70-years-strong company like Church’s and bring them an impactful solution for their business. FreshFry is honored to play a part in their history, their food, and in the lives of the people who make it.”
On average, the pods can extend the oil life by two to three days, leading to a net savings of approximately $1,500 per pod. Each case of pods can also offset 8.2 pounds of carbon emissions.
Since its founding, FreshFry has been able to redeploy 10 million pounds of food scraps by the collective use of restaurants’ use of the pods. In addition, FreshFry has made a pledge to redeploy one billion pounds of scraps by 2031.
“At Church’s, we’re committed to providing high-quality food and service at a great value for our guests, without ever sacrificing our standards or negatively impacting the planet,” said Luis de la Torre, VP of Global Ops Services for Church’s, in a release. “The quality of our oil is a big part of that commitment. By working with FreshFry, we meet the needs of our franchisees and the environment.”
In April 2022, we reported FreshFry planned to expand its headquarters by 10,000 square feet at 2600 River Green Circle in East Louisville to produce its pods in-house.
Four months later in July 2022, FreshFry announced a global deal with Sysco (NYSE: SYY) that included distribution to Canada, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. As a result, an alternate name for the pods is the Sysco Classic Fry Oil Filter Pods.
At the time, we reported that FreshFry had raised $5.3 million in venture capital.
