Training Supports Ryp Labs' Trailblazing Quest to Combat Food Waste and Drive Sustainable Change

Company Profile

Ryp Labs, an award-winning company founded in 2017, is on a mission to reduce food waste. According to the company, its original patent-pending technology, called StixFresh©, is a sticker coated with a plant-based formulation that helps boost the shelf-life of fresh produce by 50-100 percent. The sticker is coated with a food-grade formulation that helps slow down over-ripening and spoilage of fresh produce. 

Ryp Labs' focus in biomimicry has been chiefly on fruits and veggies (how many times have you bought strawberries that turned moldy a day later?). But it's on track to extend shelf-life and eliminate waste in other areas, including eggs, meat, seafood, poultry, dairy, and plants and flowers.

"Given the simplicity and scalability of our solution for both developed and developing regions, fruits, and vegetables are just the beginning," Ryp Labs CEO Moody Soliman said in a company news release. “We've already been approached by meat, seafood, alternative protein companies, and more.”

Situation

In 2021 Ryp Labs met Impact Washington, the Washington state representative of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) National Network, through outreach by the Center's Chief Food Scientist, Craig Doan. Ryp Labs is laser-focused on the creation of its products and the positive impact the products could make on the world. In conversation, Craig learned that Ryp Labs needed support with technical product development, the growth of a formal human resources program, and proper procedures regarding onboarding staff that could be reviewed by Labor and Industry (L&I). The company also needed to develop a food-safety and quality program (cGMP's and SOP's) to comply with current good manufacturing practices and preventive controls for human food.

Solution

The startup's solution involved extensive training. Through collaboration with Invista Performance Solutions, Impact Washington leveraged Washington's incumbent worker program to design a tailored two-year training program that catered to Ryp Labs' specific requirements. This program, which offers wage-match benefits, allowed Ryp Labs to significantly reduce the expenses associated with training their workforce.

The employee training program led by Michael Johnson helped Ryb Labs successfully develop new products and processing techniques. It included technical workforce product development training, including development methods, prototyping, analytical methods, statistical analysis, stage gate methods, shelf-life determination, and production methods throughout the consulting. Around the same time, a large, US-based retail grocer extended a preliminary in-market deployment with Ryp Labs and is currently conducting in-store trials at scale.

Ryp Labs has a new employee handbook and onboarding processes thanks to human resource training. Training also included gap analysis, instruction on the development of required safety records, and training on procedures, site compliance, and leadership; Kevin Proctor led this portion of the training.

Jolene Cram, and Craig Doan, led the food and safety and quality training to help Ryp Labs employees understand the food safety requirements under CFR 21 117 — good manufacturing practices and preventive controls for human food. The team will continue to receive annualized food safety training.

Results

Overall, the training programs:

• Created 5 new jobs and retained 4 positions.
• Helped Ryp Labs invest over $350,000 in new products, equipment, and workforce.
• Facilitated a 25%-30% savings in product costs.

Since our first encounter, Ryp Labs has undergone significant changes, transitioning from a cubicle-style office in Kirkland to a spacious establishment in Bothell, complete with dedicated spaces for labs and manufacturing. Notably, they have achieved remarkable progress in their pilot studies with renowned global retailers and distributors. These accomplishments have not gone unnoticed, as they have consistently received prestigious international awards, the most recent being the Top Global Startup Award at the esteemed UN Climate Conference, COP27. This recognition reflects the immense potential of their innovative technology to address and combat the challenges posed by climate change.