Yume Food’s platform offers buyers a unique opportunity to scale food redistribution and reduce waste nationwide

Australia’s pioneering food redistribution startup, Yume Food, has entered liquidation, marking a turning point for the 10-year-old social enterprise. The platform, designed to help manufacturers sell surplus products and donate unsold food to relief organisations, is now on the market for potential buyers.

Founded by Katy Barfield in 2015, Yume aimed to tackle food waste while creating commercial opportunities for food manufacturers. Over the past decade, the platform generated $30 million in additional sales, redistributed 11.5 million kilograms of quality food, prevented 44 million kilograms of CO₂ emissions, and saved 2.5 billion litres of embedded water. Its corporate clients included global giants such as Mars, Unilever, Kellanova, and General Mills.

Operating Strain Despite Platform Success

Despite completing major platform investments, Yume faced unexpected financial strain. Rebecca Gill, liquidator at Teneo Financial Advisory Australia, highlighted that the platform itself required no immediate capital expenditure.

“This is an attractive opportunity for a prospective buyer to leverage 10 years of investment, plus the strong relationships and networks Yume has built,” Gill said. “Yume has created a national market for surplus food, supporting manufacturers while building a secondary food market that’s now a valuable part of the supply chain.”

Barfield shared her perspective on LinkedIn, reflecting on the challenges and pride of leading a mission-driven startup.

“Startups are hard. Mission-driven ones even harder,” she wrote. “We did not stop building. We simply ran out of runway. While there’s sadness in winding up operations, there’s also unshakable pride in what we’ve achieved.”

More Than Numbers

Barfield emphasized that Yume’s impact goes beyond metrics: “They are people fed, emissions avoided, industries supported, a system challenged and ultimately changed.” The founder, who previously developed food rescue charity SecondBite, raised $7 million for Yume and secured a $2 million seed round earlier this year.

Looking ahead, Barfield plans to take time to reflect but remains committed to her mission. “The fire burns brightly. And when the path forward becomes clear, it will be met with the same conviction and imagination that fuelled this one,” she said.

Yume’s journey highlights both the potential and challenges of combining social impact with business innovation. For entrepreneurs, investors, and impact-driven companies, this sale represents a unique opportunity to continue shaping Australia’s food redistribution landscape.