With 2024 declared the hottest year on record and COP16 discussions in Riyadh highlighting the critical need for accelerated climate action, UAE-based startups jalebi.io and Olive Gaea have announced a strategic partnership to combat the global food waste crisis. Valued at $1 trillion annually, food waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for nearly 8-10% of global totals.
As the F&B sector continues its rapid growth, it grapples with the stark reality that the environmental and economic consequences of food waste have become increasingly urgent. Inefficient supply chains and operational blindspots cost businesses up to $100 billion annually while exacerbating climate change. Recognizing the opportunity to address this dual challenge, jalebi.io, an AI-enabled F&B SaaS platform to optimize operations, and Olive Gaea, a climate-tech company leveraging AI to drive decarbonization, have joined forces to provide sustainable, scalable solutions.
The partnership, signed at Hub71 – Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem – brings together jalebi.io’s purpose-built technology, designed with seasoned operators to integrate and optimize their in-house supply-chain and inventory management, and Olive Gaea’s expertise in measuring and reducing environmental impact. By combining their strengths, the two companies are determined to eliminate inefficiencies in F&B operations while enabling businesses to quantify and mitigate their carbon footprint and monetize their decarbonization efforts.
“This partnership exemplifies how climate-tech and industry-vetted software can effectively tackle one of the fastest growing and most pressing challenges of our time,” said Vivek Tripathi, Co-Founder and CEO of Olive Gaea. “Food waste isn’t just an economic strain on businesses; it’s a critical environmental crisis. By working with jalebi.io, we’re able to provide actionable tools to turn waste into opportunity, creating measurable impact for the F&B sector that unlocks capital and pays back dividends.”
For jalebi.io, the collaboration reinforces its commitment to aligning business growth with its Government endorsed sustainability goals. “At jalebi.io, our mission has always been to create smarter, more profitable F&B operations while meaningfully contributing to a healthier planet,” said Zohare Haider, Co-founder & CEO of jalebi.io. “This unique partnership with Olive Gaea strengthens our ability to deliver real economic and environmental value to the industry, leveraging fit-for-purpose technology to tackle food waste at scale.”
Through their collaboration, businesses using jalebi.io’s platform will now gain access to advanced tools for tracking and reducing their carbon footprints. This added capability empowers F&B operators to adopt more sustainable practices while positioning themselves competitively in markets where environmental accountability is increasingly valued.
Both startups, rooted in the UAE’s thriving startup ecosystem, highlight the region’s role as a hub for impactful innovation. “The UAE’s emphasis on sustainability and its support for emerging technologies provide the perfect environment for partnerships like this to thrive,” said Haider. “We’re proud to represent this ecosystem by addressing global challenges with scalable, impact-driven solutions.”
Adding to this, Vivek said: “This partnership reflects how AI can drive meaningful change with application to addressing operational inefficiencies while accelerating climate action. It’s collaborations like this that exemplify how the regional ecosystem is designed to scale solutions addressing global challenges.”
This collaboration sets a new standard for sustainability in the F&B sector, showcasing the power of collaboration between technology and climate-tech companies in driving meaningful change.
