What started as a simple science experiment in middle school has become a social enterprise in the fight against food waste.
Kavita Shukla first came up with what is now known as FreshPaper on a family visit to India: when she accidentally ingested unfiltered tap water, her grandmother gave her a home remedy to prevent her from getting sick.
That spiced concoction inspired her to spend years testing different blends against rotting fruits and vegetable to prolong their freshness. Her persistence paid off — in the form of a patent for her product, at the age of 17.
Now in her early 30’s, Shukla has since founded parent company Fenugreen, where she is also acting CEO.
She points out that we lose over 25% of the world’s food supply to spoilage, and says FreshPaper is a sustainable solution to help keep food fresh for up to 2-4 times longer. It’s infused with an organic mix of proprietary spices (one of which is fenugreek) to prolong the shelf life of fresh produce.
“Even a small reduction in food waste actually changes how many people a food bank is able to feed,” says Shukla. “There’s a lot of space in the world of food waste and we need amazing innovators to really start to think about how to encourage more people to just be a little more conscious in their consumption.”