Yoshi Foods

Yoshi Foods wants to reduce food waste & single-use packaging by producing a soluble soup powder pad based on "ugly" vegetables and other residual flows.

At the moment, one-third of all produced food in the world goes to waste. If we take a closer look, we see that 45% of all vegetables and fruit end up in the bin for all sorts of reasons (aesthetics, shelf life, overproduction, etc.). Not only is this hard to believe, as a lot of people live in hunger in this world, but it also is the cause of 6-8% of global emissions. Since we want to extend the life of these 'ugly' vegetables by turning them into soup powder, we reduce food waste on the one hand and its accompanied emissions on the other hand.

The second problem we want to tackle is the single-use packaging problem. Single-use packaging has many harmful characteristics. On the one hand, it is the cause of microplastics in our food as researchers found we eat as much as a credit card of microplastics on average per week. On the other hand, single-use packaging accounts for 5% of the energy usage in the product life cycle, which contributes significantly to the emissions of the product. Using soluble or reusable packaging would reduce CO2 emissions by 60%. We aim to use a starch coating that will serve as packaging.

The third and last problem we want to address is the fact that a working place is an unhealthy place at many companies. We refuse to use any additives in our product, so it is 100% healthy (97% vegetables, the rest are spices and starch) and 100% vegan. In this way, we differentiate ourselves from other instant soups as they are full of salt, flavor additives, and color additives. Our product will have the taste and mouthfeel of homemade soup. Also, since a lot of Millennials and Gen Z are looking to work only for companies that actively invest in a sustainable future, we could be a factor in the war on talent.

Yoshi Foods wants to use vegetables, that were to end up on the waste pile because of aesthetics, overproduction, etc., and produce instant soup powder from them. Our powder consists of vegetables and spices, so we are 100% healthy (97% vegetables, the rest are spices and starch) and 100% vegan. 

We also refuse to use single-use packaging, so we thought of a starch coating, which would have three functions: it protects the soup powder from humidity, it serves as packaging and it makes the soup thicker. We want to sell our product B2B as market research points out that people consume these instant soups most at work. In this way, we can reduce waste at workplaces.

Our production process is highly technological. We have to use very specialized equipment to dry our soup, to powderize it, and to make it soluble in hot water. At the moment, we are still in the prototyping phase of our product so our production process is on a rather small scale. We are working together with an association in Belgium to upscale our process.

Also, our starch coating requires a highly technological process to make sure it dissolves in hot water with the soup powder, but in the meantime also protects the soup powder from any form of water and thickens the soup to ensure a normal soup texture and taste.

Since we tackle food waste in Belgium, we desire to reduce the edible food that gets thrown away to zero. This means we improve the lives of every citizen.

We want to sell our product B2B, which means that by offering our product to businesses, their employees benefit from its nutritious aspects, and waste is cut at workplaces. 

Our product can also help a company leader in the war for talent. Research has shown that Millennials and Gen Z are more often looking to work at companies that care for sustainability and the health of their employees.

Since we use a starch coating as packaging, we also reduce the number of trash bags, which then again reduces emissions, which then again is a benefit to everyone.

The Yoshi Foods founding team has three members: Julien Lanssens, Jonas Lelièvre-Damit, and Lucas Warsson. All three of us have diverse backgrounds that induce a more rapid pace in the development of our business. 

Julien Lanssens is a last year master's student in Business Engineering at KU Leuven. Julien will overlook the strategy, finances, and prospects of Yoshi Foods. Julien is part of various organizations like Academics for Development and the Youth Council at his Municipality. He always had a thriving ambition to be a social entrepreneur.

Jonas Lelièvre-Damit has a background in Food Science at KU Leuven and is currently enjoying another year of education at Vlerick Business School, where he enrolled in the Masters in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Jonas will handle the R&D and production of the flavors.

Lucas Warsson is an industrial engineer that is also currently enrolled in the Masters in Innovation and Entrepreneurship program of Vlerick Business School. Lucas will handle the production process with Jonas and support Julien in attracting new clients.

We have conducted market research that points out that most consumers of instant soups are consuming at work, which means that we should target firms instead of individual consumers. Also, Belgium is banning single-use packaging in the offices in the upcoming years, so our competitors will not have a chance to use single-use anymore, which means we will be a step ahead of them.

We also found that industrial kitchens often use soup powders as a basis for their soups, but they still add extra salt and vegetables to them. If they would choose Yoshi Foods, they wouldn't have to deal with a salty soup and they would not have to add vegetables to thicken the soup. This would result in a cost cut and time savings for these organizations while maintaining equal quality.

We talked to a dietician who mentioned that our current competitors are really salt-based, which is not particularly healthy. Customers often know this, but still consume it as they perceive it as a desk snack. We would be the healthy alternative to these unhealthy soup powders.

In our prototyping development, we use the lean start-up way, which means we return to the market for feedback whenever we make an incremental change. For example, we had a stand at the Sustainable Christmas Market in Leuven in December to have a first tasting for the open public so we could optimize our taste. We worked with the feedback and made the necessary adjustments. In January, we are speaking to a lot of clients who showed interest in our product at the Sustainable Christmas Market to get even more insights, so we can create different personae. In February, we are doing a second tasting at Vlerick Business School and have arranged our first paying testing environment (pilot) where we can receive a lot of useful feedback to keep on optimizing.

At the moment, the (instant) soup industry goes accompanied by a lot of single-use packaging & additives to maintain a certain quality/shelf life. We want to disrupt the market by focusing on the reduction of waste and thus working with food waste and eliminating single-use packaging from the market. We expect to do this by using packaging that is made of potato starch, which will be soluble in hot water. The starch coating is mentioned in a lot of academic papers to be the future of shelf extension.

We also want company leaders to become more aware that mental & physical health help increase the productivity of their employees while reducing (food) waste. That is why we don't use additives and remain 100% healthy.

The main goal is to turn the industry upside down and wake up the market leaders to start focusing on ecological alternatives instead of struggling with the Innovator's Dilemma and focusing on cost cuts.

We want to launch our first product in the second semester of 2023. By the end of the year, we want to have attracted at least 7 small companies, which are companies with a maximum of 50 employees. This means that we plan to make a healthier environment for these 7 companies by the end of this year. Of these companies, market research points out that 30% consume instant soups on average 3 times a week. This means that we will have sold 6,075 portions by the end of 2023. This amount of portions will results in 1,140 kg of saved 'ugly' vegetables and 6,075 avoided single-use packages in our first operational semester. 

In the summer of 2025, we should have avoided 100,000 single-use packages with a total of around 30 clients of different sizes. By the end of 2026, we should have saved around 100,000 kg of 'ugly' vegetables, according to our foresight in the financial plan.

The first technology we are using is the drying technique. This is where we vaporize the water from the vegetable mix, so we can pulverize it. This is an important step as it makes sure that bacteria are killed to extend the shelf life of our product.

The second technology is starch coating. A lot of academic papers have indicated that this is the future of food preservation. First, we would press the powder into little cubes before spraying them with a starch coating. The starch coating will have three benefits: protection from humidity (shelf life extension), elimination of packaging (no single-use waste), and it will be a thickener (better customer perception).

We will be operational in the second semester of 2023 and are forecast to sell 6,075 portions by the end of 2023, as mentioned in the impact question. This means that at least 7 companies will join us in our journey to make the workplace a healthier environment. Next year, we should be able to sell around 9,000 portions to 17 companies in total, who will join us on our mission. 

Since our solution tackles a global problem, the global population will enjoy the benefits. Food waste is accountable for 6-8% of global emissions and single-use packaging causes micro-plastics to reappear on our plates, which is drastic for our health. In general, everyone will benefit from our solution to these problems.

These numbers are all written down in our financial plan.

Currently, we are still in the prototyping phase, which we will be able to fund with our own money/the money of the FFF (Friends, Family, and Fools). We are also applying for multiple grants and competing in contests with fund prices here in Belgium. 

More market research is needed to fully understand the different target groups we want to sell to. In this way, we can optimize our sales pitches and thus attract more clients. These problems will be addressed in the upcoming months as we are participating in the Start-Up Accelerator of Vlerick Business School, where we can work on our start-up and where we are backed up by a lot of coaches from different backgrounds.

We are also making contact with the different vegetable waste streams (vegetable auctions, farmers, food processing companies, supermarkets, etc.) on an international level to make sure that we are not prohibited from growing in the future.

KICK by KU Leuven: General coaching by the KU Leuven university

Start-Up Accelerator by Vlerick Business School: Accelerator program of Vlerick Business School

Maarten Vandecruys of Urban Crop Solutions: Mentor of the SUA program

Katie Van den Bulck of Vlaio: Coaching in the sustainability and production process

Food pilot: Consulting in the upscaling of the production process

IusStart incubator track: legal advice

Next to these organizations/tracks, we have also set up an advisory council to surround us with experienced mentors/know-how.

General coaching: Katie Van den Bulck, Yannick Dillen

Coaching from the sector: Sabine Devreese (supply chain), Maarten Vandecruys (general knowledge), Christophe Pierre (general knowledge/sales)

Every part of the BMC will be discussed here for YOSHI FOODS.

Key resources: Logistically speaking, the input of "ugly" vegetables has to be somewhat consistent or predictable. These will come from vegetable processors where we can save fabrication errors from being thrown away. That is one of our biggest bottlenecks next to the necessary funding that is needed for this endeavor.

Partners: Our focus is now on making contact within the vegetable industry to resolve the set bottleneck. Currently, we are doing this by cooperating with Flanders' Food and BioEconomy Ventures.

Key activities: Right now, we focus on the development of the powder. Our next research goal is the coating that will be used to conserve the product. We are cooperating with Flanders' Food and BioEconomy Ventures to find the right partners for this. If this all becomes reality, we want to really focus on broadening our reach and even developing our own vending machines, so we can assure the best quality.

Type of intervention: The soup powder itself is a PRODUCT

Channels: At this moment we are primarily focused on mouth-to-mouth advertisement. We are primarily talking to the network that is provided by several innovation and entrepreneurship programs in Flanders. In the next year, we aim to increase our channels by implementing social media advertisements to optimize our B2B sales.

Segments: We are applying for subsidies within the Flemish government. As added funding, we are going for FFF and business angels

VP: Social media will be key to showing the world our process, but more importantly our vision. We can announce it in a cost-effective way and try to inform the general public of our mission statement to become as sustainable as possible

Cost structure: Our biggest costs in this phase right now are the R&D costs and investments in equipment. On a later basis, it will shift to customer acquisitions, but R&D will stay relevant as we want to keep up with new flavors and not get stuck in the Innovator's Dilemma.

Surplus: As our goal is to be as sustainable as we can be, our re-investments of our revenue will be in R&D for other flavors to have a bigger assortment and thus save more "ugly" vegetables. Also investing in green energy such as solar, and CHP. The ultimate goal is to operate at a net zero level as soon as possible.

Revenue: Our revenue will consist primarily of the selling of our product. In later stages, we can rent out our vending machines and have more of a Nespresso business model. 

Since we are still in the prototyping phase, we are relying on our own money as students. To optimize our flavors and the solubility of the pad/soup powder, we already went pitching to FFF and got positive reactions for investments. We are also coached by a member of the Flemish Department for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, who will help us to get governmental grants. We are launching our first flavor in the second semester and expect to sell 6,075 portions by the end of 2023, which results in a revenue of €9,113. Eventually, we will have to attract a new form of capital injection, in the form of a Business Angel or VC. In the long run, we will be able to invest with our own revenue for which we refer to our financial plan.