A St. Louis food technology startup is pursuing national expansion after snagging a spot in a fast-casual restaurant’s accelerator program.
Foodshed.io is one of eight companies participating in the third cohort of the Chipotle Aluminaries Project, a startup accelerator designed to assist startups seeking to improve the food system. The accelerator program is staged by the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, a nonprofit launched by Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), and Denver-based social impact accelerator Uncharted.
The six-month accelerator program provides cohort companies with mentoring and coaching — and free burritos. It does not provide a financial investment to participating companies.
Founded in 2017, Foodshed focuses on expanding the reach of local farmers and has developed a marketing and logistics platform designed to assist retailers and institutional buyers in finding produce from local, independent growers. While headquartered in Livingston, Montana, Foodshed has extensive operations in St. Louis. Four of the startup’s 10 employees are based in St. Louis and a key customer is St. Louis-based grocer Schnuck Markets. In 2019, Foodshed took part in an accelerator cohort of St. Louis-based Yield Lab.
Foodshed’s acceptance into the Chipotle accelerator comes as it eyes expansion, said co-founders Claire Sullivan and Dan Beckmann. The pair said the startup’s growth strategy involves signing up national food retailers as customers.
“As part of our strategy, we want to get into these multiple-store retailers like Chipotle. We’re getting to learn how all of that works,” said Beckmann, Foodshed’s CEO. “We’ve figured out our model for grocery and I think the multistore chains are going to be a huge growth opportunity for us.”
Through the accelerator program, Beckmann said, Foodshed has spoken with several senior-level Chipotle executives. Those conversations have provided insight on how it can best partner with national brands like Chipotle.
"For a startup like ours to actually have honest conversations with a place like that where it isn’t like a sales meeting is really invaluable,” Beckmann said.
Beckmann is bullish about Foodshed’s current positioning, saying the startup has more than “seven figures in revenue right now” and that its existing partnership with Schnucks has been critical to its growth. The grocer said last month its local produce selection is up 173% year over year thanks to its partnership with Foodshed.
The startup could bring on more seed funding this fall, Beckmann said, to aid its national expansion and to add to its technology team.
