2025 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit
June 23 - 25, 2025 | Seattle, WA
Hyatt Regency Seattle
Summit Schedule
From mainstage and breakout sessions to networking events, workshops, solution showcases, happy hours, and more, this year's Summit promises to be our most jam-packed yet.
Registration Open
Field Trips
[Opening Activity] Food Flicks: Documentaries to Get You Ready for Summit
Before the Summit officially kicks off, we’ll be screening a pair of documentaries that will inspire you while helping get you “conference-ready.” Farming While Black is a feature film about the rising generation of young black farmers, while Hope in the Water explores the work of community seafood programs, fishers, and aqua farmers who are innovating on harvesting and distribution models to feed our growing planet while saving our oceans. Join us after each screening for a discussion with documentary producers and storytellers.
Speakers
[Opening Activity] Just in Thyme: Food Waste Trivia
Before the Summit gets into gear, join us for some fun, food waste-themed trivia at the hottest game in town! Connect with other conference attendees in an informal setting and put your knowledge to the test for a chance to win prizes—and bragging rights—for Summit week!
Welcome Reception
Fun Run!
Details coming soon!
Registration Open
Breakfast
[Mainstage Session I] Now Trending: Celebrating Recent Wins and Preparing for What’s Next
From the first national strategy to reduce food loss and waste and West Coast retailers reporting a 25% decline in unsold food to more than $900 million invested in food waste solutions, the past year saw some big wins for food waste reduction. As we look ahead, a combination of factors have the potential to shape how we eat and in turn, how much we waste. Our first mainstage session celebrates key accomplishments from the last year and dives into trends in consumer consumption and diets that will impact food loss and waste.
Speakers
Networking Break
[Breakout Session I] Subtle but Successful: Hidden Solutions to Food Waste
With all of the buzz around artificial intelligence and new tech-based platforms, the business as usual, common sense solutions can get overlooked—even when they can hold the potential to drive massive reductions in food loss and waste. Just take a look across the supply chain and you’ll see simple practices that are having a big impact, and they’re available and ready to scale right now. Join this session to hear about the best practices and standard operating procedures that are making a real difference in food companies across the country, from manufacturing to foodservice to retail.
Speakers
[Breakout Session I] More Than Words: The Power of Narratives to Inspire Change
In today’s world of influencers and social media, we’re constantly bombarded with recommendations for which products to buy and how we can improve our lives. So how do you craft a food waste narrative that breaks through the noise? Join this session to hear from expert storytellers discussing how narratives—about culture, sustainability, food—can drive behavioral change.
Speakers
Sophie Egan, MPH | Food for Climate League
[Breakout Session I] From Discarded to Desired: Solutions Breathing New Life into Food Waste
While it’s imperative to prioritize prevention and recovery, inedible food waste is a reality that must be managed—and that has real value. From centralized commercial recycling facilities to at-home options and innovative opportunities to create new products, it’s an exciting time for end-of-life solutions for food waste. Join this session to hear from solution providers and municipal partners that are making sure inedible food waste stays out of the trash.
Speakers
[Breakout Session I] More Yield from the Field: Solutions to Address On-Farm Loss
Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to farm. In the United States, more than 17 million tons of food are lost on farms each year due to a range of factors, many of which are out of the control of farmers themselves. So what are the realities that our farmers are facing? What are the challenges and risks? And more important, what are the opportunities to reduce on-farm loss and get more food into the supply chain? Join this session to find out.
Speakers
Lunch
[Breakout Session II] Creative Capital: Alternative Financing Models for Food Waste Solutions
ReFED’s analysis estimates that an annual investment of $15.9 billion can reduce food waste by 30%. Reaching that level of investment will require creative solutions and alternative financing models that are still in the nascent stages. Join this session to learn from seasoned investors and funding experts who are pushing the boundaries when it comes to funding food waste solutions.
Speakers
[Breakout Session II] The Power of Partnership: Connecting the Supply Chain to Solve Sticky Problems
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, and that’s true when addressing food waste in our supply chains. While individual players can make great strides within their own operations, even more work can be done through collaboration across the supply chain. Using case studies from the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment and U.S. Food Waste Pact, this session explores how whole chain analyses reveal surprising and non-linear opportunities for optimization and collaboration.
Speakers
[Breakout Session II] Wellness on Your Plate: The Intersection of Diet, Health, and Waste
What we eat—and what we don’t—is inextricably linked to our health and the health of our planet. Changing how we eat to be more mindful of our health can also combat food waste; think about balanced portion sizes or plant-forward diets with less wasted meat. This session features experts across the public health spectrum discussing how we can mobilize nutritional guidance, policy solutions, and product innovation to impact both public health and food waste reduction.
Speakers
Erin Boyd Kappelhof | Eat Well Global
[Breakout Session II] Reimagining Food Rescue: How to Strengthen Food Recovery in a Complex Climate
A perfect storm of complications has been brewing for food recovery—from federal funding cuts and increased demand for services to elevated food prices and ever-changing business models. Building a resilient food recovery operation in today’s complex climate demands a reimagination of the traditional model. Join this session to hear from innovators and entrepreneurs building new ways to rescue more food and feed more people.
Speakers
[Breakout Session II] Circular Cities: Collaborating at the Local Level to Solve Food Waste
What does solving food waste look like at the most local level—in our neighborhoods, our communities, and our urban areas? How can strategic design and community-driven organizations make progress where policy has stalled? Join the experts helping to answer these questions and explore how urban planning, community collaboration, and last-mile solutions are driving progress at the local level.
Speakers
Meetings & Networking
[Mainstage Session II] Setting the Table: The Realities Shaping Our Work
We can’t address food waste without understanding the broader food system and the world in which that system operates. This session takes a step back to help frame up the context in which we accomplish our work—the policies, trends, technologies, and environmental issues that shape the system that produces (and wastes) our food.
Speakers
Erin Boyd Kappelhof | Eat Well Global
Kathleen Merrigan | Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems
Happy Hour Reception
No-Host Dinners
Registration Open
Breakfast
[Side Event] Designing Change: Human-Centered Approaches to Food Waste Solutions
Hosted by Seattle Public Utilities and Global Impact Collective
Discover how Seattle Public Utilities, in collaboration with the Global Impact Collective, used human-centered design to explore scalable, community-driven food waste prevention opportunities and partnerships. This interactive panel and breakfast session will share learnings from a six-month discovery phase with businesses, nonprofits, and experts—exploring how cities can catalyze change and how you can apply these insights within your own organization or community. Join the conversation and contribute ideas to help shape the next phase of this innovative initiative.
[Mainstage Session III] From Emerald to Evergreen: Food Waste Wins in Seattle and Washington State
Welcome to Seattle, “the Emerald City”! This forward-thinking city is a leader when it comes to food waste reduction—for nearly a decade, it’s had an organic waste disposal ban that keeps food out of landfill, and it’s also home to pioneers like Starbucks and Safeway that are setting the bar for food donation. This session highlights policies and best practices in Seattle and Washington, exploring what’s gone well, what still needs to happen, and what can be scaled across the country.
Speakers
Liz Fikejs | Seattle Public Utilities
Suzanne Long | Albertsons Companies
Jade Monroe | Department of Ecology
Networking Break
[Breakout Session III] Carton Conscious: Reducing Waste across the Dairy & Egg Supply Chain
Milk and eggs are two of the most common grocery items on our shopping lists. And with all of that demand comes the potential for significant waste from farm to fork. So what’s the reality? What are the specific waste challenges, and what are some of the innovative solutions? Join us to hear from key players in the egg and dairy industry taking a deep dive into these questions and more.
Speakers
[Breakout Session III] Regulations Driving Results: How State-Level Policy is Moving the Needle
Policy is a critical lever in driving food loss and waste reductions, and now more than ever, action on the state and local level is critically important. From regulations standardizing date labels to donation and tax incentives and organic waste disposal bans, food waste policy gained significant momentum in 2024 and offered an occasion for nonpartisan collaboration. Join this session to take a tour of effective policies that are making an impact in states and municipalities, and learn how you can promote similar policies in your region.
[Breakout Session III] It Makes Cents: Building the Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste
Reducing food loss and waste offers a triple-win for our planet, communities, and economy. Many companies are already cutting waste to reduce costs, even if they don’t always recognize it as a sustainability strategy. The right data makes food waste reduction efforts visible, quantifies their value, builds internal buy-in, and drives greater investment and collaboration. In this session, hear from business leaders who are using insights and tools to accelerate action, unlock hidden value, and show why reducing food waste truly makes sense.
Speakers
[Breakout Session III] The Environmental Effect: The Nexus Between Surplus Food and Land, Biodiversity, Water, and Climate
The numbers are staggering—140 million acres of land, enough water for each American to shower seven times a day all year, the same emissions as driving 54 million cars annually—surplus food has an outsized impact on our natural resources and climate. Zeroing in on methane, 10% of emissions of this potent greenhouse gas come from surplus food, which is one reason why reducing unsold and uneaten food is a key strategy to pull the “emergency brake” on climate change. Join this session and hear how food loss and waste intersects with and impacts larger environmental pressures around land conversion, biodiversity, water, and methane.
Speakers
[Breakout Session III] From the Ground Up: Empowering Frontline Workers to Reduce Food Waste
Often the best solutions come from the people who are closest to the problem. Empowering frontline workers to develop strategies for addressing food loss and waste has surfaced creative and highly scalable solutions across the food system—in one case, driving more than a 70% reduction in wasted food within a manufacturing line. Join some of these frontline workers from U.S. Food Waste Pact signatory companies to hear how they’ve led high-impact work from the ground up—and how the Pact’s newly launched employee engagement toolkit can help your business.
Networking Break
[Mainstage Session IV] No Time to Waste: Accelerating Progress to 2030
We’re just five years away from 2030, the target year for cutting food waste in half both in the U.S. and internationally—and while we have a lot to celebrate, we’ve still got a long way to go. There’s a wide range of solutions driving food waste reductions across the supply chain, but unlocking their potential at scale will require accelerated action from all food system actors. Our closing mainstage session features seasoned funders exploring the investment and funding landscape for food waste solutions, including what’s worked in the past and what needs to change for the future.
Speakers
Lunch (with To-Go Option)
[Workshop] Empower Your Team To Tackle Food Waste: An Immersive Walkthrough of the Pact's Employee Engagement Toolkit
Join us for this interactive workshop designed to equip food business leaders and sustainability champions with the tools and strategies needed to impactfully engage employees in reducing food waste. This 90-minute session will engage participants in the power employee awareness, training, and engagement can have on tackling food loss and reaching organizational food waste goals. Attendees will explore real-world case studies, access sector-specific training resources, learn through teaming and immersive workshop activities, and walk away with tangible assets to champion ambitious and achievable food reduction efforts within their operations. No matter where you reside along the food supply chain, this workshop will give you the practical tools and actionable insights to drive measurable change and momentum toward a zero-waste future.