zero percent

When Rajesh Karmani, 31, moved to America eight years ago, he thought he would never have to see impoverishment again.

“I come from a remote desert area in Pakistan, so I have seen poverty and hunger,” said Karmani. “When I came to America, I thought I had left it behind.”

Unfortunately, he was wrong. 

But, Karmani, who received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, was ready to do something about it.

"Zero Percent began as a project to solve a problem,” said Karmani, who founded the start-up after being inspired by the book, American Wasteland. “I thought to myself, ‘How the heck could we waste $22 billion worth of good food in America, when 1-in-6 people face hunger each year?’”  

Zero Percent is on online food donation marketplace that helps businesses move surplus, edible food to nearby soup kitchens and shelters. Their goal is to reduce both hunger and waste. 

Or, as Caleb Phillips, Zero Percent’s Chief Technology Officer puts it, “We rescue beautiful food, deliver it to folks who really need it, and in doing so, prevent it from going to a landfill instead.”

Phillips, 29, who also has his PhD in Computer Science, met Karmani, Zero Percent’s Founder & CEO, over email.

After a year of emails and phone calls, Phillips and Karmani decided to work together using their complex problem solving skills to create a scalable solution to Chicago’s food waste problem. 

Photo Credit: Zero Percent Facebook

Their hard work did not go unnoticed. 

Impact Engine, an accelerator program that supports businesses that have a societal and environmental impact, wanted to join forces with Zero Percent.

“We had the offer to join Impact Engine and I was like, ‘holy shit,’” said Karmani, who has been couch surfing at friends or staying at hostels since the company relocated to Chicago in September 2013.

Now, working out of Merchandise Mart in River North, Zero Percent has already made a name for itself in Chicago.

Well-known players like: Hannah’s Bretzel, The Goddess and Grocer and Dimo’s Pizza are some of the restaurants who have already teamed up with Zero Percent to arrange food donations.

“We work with non-profit shelters, soup kitchens and pantries – they’re the ones who receive these food donations,” said Phillips, who reaches out to organizations and companies the old fashioned way, by making cold calls or by walk-ins.

After seeing much success within their first four months of being in Chicago, Phillips, has high hopes for Zero Percent.

“In the short term, maybe we'll just save all the food in Chicago,” said Phillips. “After that, maybe the rest of the world too.”