Lineage celebrates successful hackathon against food waste and announces winning team – Fungi For Future

• Fungi For Future, hailed as the champions by a panel of expert judges, presented an innovative project poised to reshape the approach to managing food waste. 
• They will receive a monetary prize and a 6-month incubator program facilitated by The Waste Transformers and Lineage.
• The final day of the hackathon was opened by Deputy Mayor Zita Pels, who emphasized the importance of collaboration and practical solutions to tackle food waste.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 21 September – Lineage, one of the leaders in cold chain logistics, today announced the successful conclusion of its hackathon event ‘Tackling Food Waste for a Sustainable Future’. The event took place over two days in Amsterdam, with the final day at the Eye Film Museum, and brought together some of the brightest minds of student and startup teams as well as NGOs and supply chain leaders from across Europe for an intense few days of innovation, collaboration and problem-solving. 

The hackathon saw participants from various backgrounds and skill sets come together to try and tackle the challenges of food waste along the supply chain. Teams were asked to effectively track and trace the weight of food waste along various points of the supply chain. For two consecutive days, the participants dedicated unwavering effort to crafting innovative solutions with the potential to revolutionize the approach to addressing food waste. 

After careful evaluation by an expert judge panel, Fungi For Future emerged as the winning team. They impressed the judges with their exceptional creativity, technical expertise and an innovative and scalable project that focuses on the production of alternatives for packaging materials, based on mycelium. 

"We are amazed by the level of talent and dedication displayed by all the participants in this hackathon," said Harld Peters, President, Lineage Europe, on behalf of the expert jury panel representing Foodvalley NL, Van Geloven (part of McCain), Taste Before You Waste, VU Amsterdam and Lineage.  "The ideas and solutions presented underscore the incredible potential of smart and driven problem-solvers to drive positive change in our industry.” The winning team, Fungi For Future, will receive a monetary prize and personal mentorship through a 6-month incubator program facilitated by The Waste Transformers and Lineage to develop and potentially implement their solution. 

The Waste Transformers, a global leader in on-site containerized food waste biodigesters, enthusiastically embraces the involvement of students in addressing the critical issues around food waste. As partners in this program, we are dedicated to support Fungi For Future over the next six months to amplify their impactful ideas. Lara van Druten, CEO of The Waste Transformers says, “I am very excited about the transformative potential of these young minds in revolutionizing the way we handle food waste. Together, we strive for a greener, more sustainable future." 

"Taking part in the hackathon was a huge learning experience, it was inspiring to all be working towards the same goal of reducing food waste," said the Fungi For Future team. "We look forward to taking the next step with the prize and the incubator programme." 

Lineage extends its gratitude to all the participants, judges, and partners who contributed to the event’s success. 

About Lineage: 

Lineage is one of the world’s leading temperature-controlled industrial REITs and integrated solutions providers with a global network of over 400 strategically located facilities, totaling nearly 56 million cubic meters of capacity across countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Coupling industry-leading expertise in end-to-end logistical solutions and innovative technology, Lineage partners with the world’s largest food and beverage companies to increase distribution efficiency, advance sustainability, minimize supply chain waste, and, most importantly, help feed the world. In recognition of the company’s leading innovations and sustainability initiatives, Lineage has been named a CNBC Disruptor 50 Company for three consecutive years, twice named a US Best Managed Company, named the No. 1 Data Science company, and 23rd overall, on Fast Company’s list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies, and was included on Fortune’s Change the World list. (https://onelineage.com/)