![]() Broiler chickens, the most consumed meat, are bred to digest corn however, Cooks Venture’s breed of chicken has a more advanced digestive system which allows them to eat a broader range of feed. It’s a backward system that is depleting the soil fertility of farmland. I saw firsthand the inefficiency of the farming system: government subsidies to grow corn & soy encouraged heavy farming of those products but minimize best practices like crop rotation, resulting in a surplus that is then fed to animals that don’t eat those grains. I knew that the efficiency of America’s food supply chain needed to be improved while I was the COO and Cofounder of Blue Apron. What inspired the start of Cooks Venture? ![]() We are the only vertically integrated chicken producer in the United States that has an independent genetics operation (breeding through selection, not genetic engineering) without ties to the two globally consolidated genetics companies. This is in stark contrast to the industrial-bred and factory-farmed chickens that dominate the broiler industry today. It has re-imagined how selective breeding is conducted through more natural criteria and heritage lines. The company’s team has invested over a decade in bringing a healthier chicken to market. Tell us about the product or service that Cooks Venture offers.Ĭooks Venture breeds and raises a proprietary slow-growth, heirloom chicken, taking into account the health of the animal and the health of the environment. SJF Ventures and Cultivian Sandbox led the investment with participation from Larry Schwartz and John Roulac, executive producer of the upcoming documentary on regenerative agriculture, Kiss the Ground. Who were your investors and how much did you raise? Cooks Venture has raised a total of $16M across two rounds and has built a team of approximately 200 employees. Before launching Cooks Venture, Wadiak was the COO and Cofounder of Blue Apron, which went public in 2017. Cooks Venture relies on regenerative agriculture (utilizing photosynthesis and healthy soil microbiology to reduce greenhouse gasses and capture them in the soil).ĪlleyWatch caught up with Founder and CEO Matthew Wadiak to learn more about Cooks Venture and its twofold plan to reduce the environmental impact of farming and to breed healthier chickens. Cooks Venture birds are allowed to freely roam its 800-acre farm, and it supports local farmers by feeding Cooks Venture birds local Non-GMO feed that is grown with ethical and sustainable methods that are better for the bird and the human. ![]() The company is the only vertically integrated chicken producer in the United States that has an independent genetics operation (breeding through selection, not genetic engineering) without ties to genetics companies. Hoping to play a part in solving this massive challenge, Cooks Venture re-envisions the future of agriculture by breeding and raising its own slow-growth, heirloom chicken. Whether or not you agree with Booker’s stance, it’s raising the public’s awareness of inhumane farming practices and the environmental impact of CAFO farming. The Farm System Reform Act introduced by Senator Corey Booker has been making headlines for its push to restore humane agriculture and establish a $100B fund over 10 years to buy out CAFOs (central animal feeding operations that are known as “factory farms”) and promote organic, best-farming practices. The health and practices of the food supply chain in the United States are becoming a hot-button, political issue.
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