Elior Group and 33entrepreneurs Back FoodTech Innovation and Bring San Francisco's Two Best Start-Ups to France

PARIS, October 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Partners in the first Bon Appétech conference (San Francisco), Elior Group and 33entrepreneurs are committed to seek out and support the most innovative projects in FoodTech, a burgeoning sector which combines culinary traditions with new technologies. Elior Group and 33entrepreneurs selected the two winning start-ups, Feeding Forward and Industry, out of around one hundred candidates with innovative projects, products or services in competition.

Each winning team was awarded a cash prize of $100,000 and, as of March 2016, will receive three months support delivered by a team of Elior Group experts to develop their project within the 33entrepreneurs start-up accelerator in Bordeaux (France).

The two start-ups won over the members of the jury, with as presidents Kevin Camphuis, FoodTech partner of 33entrepreneurs, and Philippe Salle, CEO and Chairman of Elior Group.

Feeding Forward, a Californian start-up specialized in the fight against food waste, has  designed and developed an application that connects professionals operating in the food, distribution and event-management sectors which generate surplus food, with charity organisations. Feeding Forward's original business model offers motivating tax breaks to professionals with access to the Company's platform. Thanks to this initiative, 600,000 people in need in the San Francisco Bay area received food packages. The objective of company founder, Komal Ahmad, is to expand the reach of Feeding Forward's services, initially to Europe and then to the other continents. Commenting on the award, Feeding Forward founder, Komal Ahmad declared: "I am amazed. Coming to France in March is a great opportunity. It is a challenge, but disrupting any industry is a challenge anyway and the beauty is, doing just a little bit is going to impact so many people and you will leave the world such a better place."

Industry is an innovative social network designed to address the particular needs and demands of professionals in the catering industry: it is at once a professional social network and a platform to showcase the skills of all those involved. Based on the Linkedin model, it is tailored to meet the specific functions of this profession. Industry founder and CEO, Cody Bardo declared: "It is fantastic! The next plan? Get on a plane going to Bordeaux for 33entrepreneurs and Elior Group! We're ready to go and very excited about it."

More information: http://www.elior.com/sites/default/files/pr_eliorgroup_strategy_laureates_bonappetech_10132015.pdf

SOURCE Elior