BEDMINSTER, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acclaimed West Coast ag-tech startup, California Safe Soil (CSS), today announced it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with KDC Ag for the nationwide development and commercialization of its patented food waste conversion and fertilizer technology. Based on more than five years of scientific development, CSS’s breakthrough technology helps creates a more sustainable, closed-loop agricultural system by enabling 100% of supermarkets’ fresh food waste that can’t be donated, to be rapidly recycled and returned to the soil as a high-value organic fertilizer called Harvest-to-Harvest™ (H2H).
Already a proven success throughout California, CSS celebrated a major milestone last week with the official opening of its first full-scale, commercial recycling facility in Sacramento, CA. KDC Ag’s new partnership will further amplify this already exciting momentum by allowing for the continued expansion of this revolutionary technology nationwide.
Kamine Development Corp (KDC) founded KDC Ag in 2015 in anticipated support of this agreement. Longtime supporters of CSS and one of the company's earliest investors, KDC Ag will leverage over 30 years of experience the Kamine family has developing more than $3.5 billion of national infrastructure. “We believe this technological infrastructure can be rapidly deployed across every major city in the U.S., drastically reducing food waste and helping to transform the agriculture sector in a sustainable and profitable way,” said Justin Kamine, a board member of CSS. Justin, his father Hal, and his brother Matt, are all founding partners of KDC Ag.
KDC Ag Expands Team, Puts Initial Focus on East Coast:
In support of this effort, KDC Ag is joined by Alex Urquhart, former CEO of GE Energy Financial Services, and three newly appointed Board of Advisors.
Joining the Board is Howard W. Buffett, a leading industry expert in regenerative agriculture. “Few technologies have the potential to help transform our food, waste, and soil systems like H2H™,” said Buffett. “I am excited to join my fellow advisors and advance KDC Ag's great work – hopefully leading to a more sustainable and productive future.”
In addition to Howard, KDC Ag is excited to announce the appointment of Chris Erickson, founder of Parsonage Lane Advisors, a leading advisory business focused on global agriculture initiatives, and Oliver Libby, Managing Director of Hatzimemos/Libby, a global growth catalyst firm based in New York, to its newly created Board of Advisors.
“KDC Ag is tackling one of the critical areas for the future of humanity, combining effective food waste and food production solutions,” said Libby. “This approach represents both a tremendously exciting business opportunity and also a necessary social good; the Hatzimemos/Libby team is excited to engage in this important work with our partners at KDC Ag.”
Headquartered in Bedminster, New Jersey, KDC Ag plans to first focus its expansion efforts on markets in the East Coast, where it has already secured long term agreements with major supermarket chains for the recycling of nearly 60,000 tons of fresh food waste per year.
Eliminating Food Waste at Scale – How It Works:
Designed to closely mimic the human body’s digestive system, CSS’s patented technology uses heat, enzymes, and mechanical action to create a nutrient-dense liquid fertilizer. Similar to the dietary demands of our own bodies, this process is powered by a balanced diet of fruits, meats, fish, deli and bakery residuals. Once collected, this mixture is heated, ground, and pumped with enzymes, breaking it down into its’ constituent elements with no added water. This liquid is then pasteurized, stabilized and blended to ensure farmers receive a consistent and pathogen free product every time.
This odorless, drought-friendly process is able to fully recycle 100% of the food waste it is fed in just three hours, making it 720 times more efficient than traditional composting techniques.
Composting 2.0™ – A New Breed of Fertilizer:
By not letting the food rot, this rapid process fully preserves foods’ nutrients; effectively transforming discarded food scraps into a powerful, pathogen free liquid fertilizer immediately available to farmers to grow their next crop cycle capable of being put through farmers irrigation equipment, including drip lines.
To date, over 40 successful, independent field trials have been conducted with H2H™ at major commercial farms on over 20 different types of crops, each consistently showing significant, far-reaching benefits to farmers. Due to its unique makeup, farmers are able to utilize H2H™ as both a sustainable solution during crop growth, and as a welcomed replacement for traditional, cost-intensive composting methods. This dual effect allows H2H™ to significantly improve soil health while reducing farmer’s nitrate use by 50%, decreasing farmers water consumption and increases crop yields by approximately 15-25%.
The significance of this technology is immense, as it creates a completely closed loop food cycle, turning once discarded food waste into a powerful fertilizer farmers can immediately use to grow their next crop. CSS currently has long-term contracts with over 200 supermarkets, which can keep over 32,000 tons of food waste from landfills per year, and provide enough sustainable organic fertilizer for over 100,000 acres of high value crops.
For more information visit KDCAg.com.
About KDC Agribusiness
KDC Agribusiness (KDC Ag) was formed in 2015 to support the exclusive licensing agreement KDC obtained for the further development and commercialization of CSS patented composting technology. Working in close partnership with CSS, this newly formed business unit will allow for the rapid expansion of CSS's technology nationwide. Learn more at www.KDCAg.com.
About California Safe Soil
California Safe Soil was founded in 2012 by Dan Morash to commercializing its breakthrough technology to recycle organics from supermarkets into a proprietary liquid fertilizer called Harvest to Harvest (H2H), and a solid livestock feed called Hog Heaven. The technology uses heat, mechanical action and enzymes in a three-hour process that eliminates waste, cuts GHG emissions, increases crop yields and improves the sustainability of agriculture. CSS expects its technology to make a meaningful contribution to reducing food waste and improving agricultural productivity. Learn more at www.CalSafeSoil.com.
