How Mill closed the deal with Amazon and Whole Foods

Mill, a food waste startup co-founded by Matt Rogers, initially focused on household customers but has long aimed to expand into commercial markets. This strategy culminated in a deal with Whole Foods, which will deploy Mill’s commercial-scale food waste bins. These bins not only improve waste operations efficiency but also collect data to help Whole Foods understand and reduce food waste upstream, ultimately controlling costs. The company’s consumer-focused approach helped build brand loyalty and served as an enterprise sales strategy, with many Whole Foods employees already using Mill products at home before formal discussions began. A key factor in closing the deal was Mill’s AI technology, which uses sensors and advanced large language models (LLMs) to identify food that should remain on shelves, minimizing "shrink"—losses from waste or theft. This AI-driven approach allowed Mill to develop its commercial product more rapidly and with fewer resources than previous tech efforts, diversifying its customer base and revenue streams. Rogers emphasized the importance of building multiple business "legs" to