# Daniel Blake, Co-Founder and CEO of EcoScraps (INTERVIEW) Turning Old Food into Organic Fertilizer By Bianca | Published 2012-01-24 | Social Good Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/daniel-blake References: [trendhunter](http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ecoscraps) We recently [profiled](http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ecoscraps) EcoScraps, a social business that turns old food waste into incredibly nutrient-rich fertilizer. Shortly after, we had the chance to interview their co-founder and CEO, Daniel Blake. In the answers below he shares the EcoScraps story as well as his personal motivation for joining the social enterprise sector -- and his secrets for staying motivated as an entrepreneur. **4 Questions with Daniel Blake, Co-Founder and CEO of EcoScraps** **1. How did the idea for the business model come about?** In Provo, Utah there is a restaurant (Magleby's Fresh) that is pretty well-known for its all-you-can-eat french toast breakfast. After eating there with my brother one morning, I was amazed at the amount of food being thrown away by me and other customers. Coming from an entrepreneurial background, I became intrigued by the idea of converting food waste into a marketable product. I thought that if I could get my raw materials at no cost, my margins would be fantastic. **2. How did you decide to join this sector?** Growing up, my family had a garden that we took care of together, so I was familiar with the idea of composting food scraps. Naturally, I geared my initial research toward [composting the food scraps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/minix) of others. I did a lot of leg-work on my own: dumpster diving, blending different combinations of wasted food, testing results, etc. When I found that I could make a premium compost mix that added value to consumers, the environment, and the business, I decided to really invest myself into EcoScraps. **3. How do you get your inspiration?** I try to surround myself with the right people, people who help me see things from a different perspective. Our discussions in the office often lead the company to explore opportunities that alone I may not have considered. To me, that's a form of inspiration. **4. How do you reset yourself to be creative? Do you have any rituals?** [I really like to cook](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/shared-cooking). I'm not a gourmet chef (yet, I'm working on it), but I like experimenting with different recipes and inventing my own dishes. I've been at it for several months now, and I'm getting a lot better. For me, cooking is relaxing. It's a good way to get my mind off of all of the stresses involved with starting a business. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 2.6/10 - Popularity: 15% | Activity: 55% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Social Good](https://www.trendhunter.com/socialgood) > [Social Business](https://www.trendhunter.com/socialbusiness) ## Key Themes ### Key Themes Behind This Trend - **Food Waste Upcycling:** Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing innovative methods to turn food waste into marketable products, such as EcoScraps' organic fertilizer. - **Circular Economy:** Disruptive innovation opportunity: Creating closed-loop systems that minimize waste and maximize the value of resources, as seen in the conversion of food waste into compost by EcoScraps. - **Sustainable Agriculture:** Disruptive innovation opportunity: Introducing environmentally friendly farming practices that integrate the use of organic fertilizers like EcoScraps' compost. ### Where This Applies - **Agriculture:** Disruptive innovation opportunity: Incorporating upcycled organic fertilizers into conventional farming methods to reduce reliance on synthetic chemicals. - **Food Service:** Disruptive innovation opportunity: Implementing strategies to reduce food waste in restaurants and finding creative ways to upcycle it into valuable products, as demonstrated by Magleby's Fresh and EcoScraps. - **Waste Management:** Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing efficient and sustainable solutions for managing and repurposing food waste on a large scale, like EcoScraps' approach to diverting food waste from landfills. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [In-Office Food Recycling Systems](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mill-for-workplace.md) - [Electric Food Recyclers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/foodcycler-eco-3.md) - [Upcycled Animal Feeds](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/do-good-foods.md) - [Chance to win £10,000](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/biffas-change-maker-competition.md) - [Eco-Friendly Chicken Products](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/carbon-reduced-chicken.md) - [Upcycled Green Beans](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/canned-green-beans.md) - [Entrepreneurial Journey Insights](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/founder-folks.md) - [Waste Diversion Grocer Initiatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/giant-food-and-divert.md) - [Fully Compostable Packaging](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/compostable-seed-packaging.md)