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Q & A with Matt Weiss

1. City of residence: NYC

2. Place of birth: Miami, Florida

3. In under five sentences, define your business:

The power’s in the peel! My great-grandmother taught me this lesson when I was a kid. And, she would know. She was a health food pioneer who lived to 100 and ran her own natural food store selling whole produce and grains…well before kale was cool.

Fruit rinds are a nutritional powerhouse, packed with more fiber and vitamins to fill you up and give you that extra boost. RIND’s snackable slices are sweet and tangy and use the whole fruit to maximize taste and minimize waste.

4. What social or environmental impact is your business making? 

Sustainable snacking is core to our mission of maximizing nutrition and minimizing food waste.

Fruits and vegetables account for nearly 40% of all wasted food in the United States. These scraps, much of it discarded peels or overripe produce, are responsible for nearly 20% of total municipal solid waste. Since the majority of fruits have edible peels, throwing them away creates unnecessary waste.

RIND’s mission is to educate consumers that they can snack better and do better by eating the fruit, the whole fruit and nothing but the fruit.

5. What is the best part of the work you’re doing? Why?

Sharing the experience of entrepreneurship with my kids. Helping them see they can turn any idea they have in their minds into an actionable, concrete product or project.

6. Out of all the products you produce, which is your favorite? Why? 

Persimmon. It’s the fruit that started me on the journey to launching RIND so it gets my nod as the favorite fruit. Plus, it so needs its own emoji!  This tomato 🍅 is as close as it gets.

7. What book(s) are you currently reading? 

Lots of kids books lately with three little ones at home.  But recently finished Range by David Epstein and found it fascinating.

8. Quote you (try to) live by?  Nothing is written in stone.

9. Using one word, how would you describe yourself? Curious.

10. What is one random fact that most people don’t know about you? Avid birder.