Mill may have started with households, but co-founder and CEO Matt Rogers says the food waste startup has long aspired to expand to commercial customers.
“This has been part of our plan since our Series A deck,” Rogers told TechCrunch.
Now, with an official deal locked in with Amazon and Whole Foods the company’s plan to profit from handling other people’s food waste is a bit more public.
Whole Foods will deploy a commercial-scale version of Mill’s food waste bin in each of its grocery stores beginning in 2027. The bins will grind and dehydrate waste from the produce department, reducing costly landfill fees while also providing feed for the company’s egg producers. Both trim the company’s overhead.
At the same time, Mill’s bins will collect data to help Whole Foods understand what gets wasted and why, helping the grocer further control costs. “Ultimately, our goal is not just to make their waste operations more efficient, but also to move upstream so they actually waste less food,” Rogers said.
The company started selling food waste bins to households a few years ago. As can be expected from a team that made the Nest thermostat, the devices are well designed and — to lean on a Silicon Valley cliche — they can be a delight to use. My kids got a kick out of the bins while testing the first and second generations.
“Starting in consumer was very intentional because you build the proof points, you build the data, the brand, loyalty,” Rogers said. Many members of the Whole Foods team were already using Mill in their homes when the two companies started talking.
Techcrunch event Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. San Francisco | WAITLIST NOW
“It’s actually kind of our enterprise sales strategy,” Rogers continued. “We have conversations with senior leadership at our various ideal customers, and if they haven’t had Mill at home yet, we say, ‘Hey, try Mill at home, see what your family thinks.’ It is a surefire way of getting folks excited.”
The startup began having conversations with Whole Foods about a year ago, Rogers said. In the ensuing months, Whole Foods trialed the consumer version in some of its stores. Mill used feedback from Whole Foods to refine its commercial model.
... continue reading