{"url":"https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-23/clearcogs-citizens-awards-finalist","markdown_url":"https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-23/clearcogs-citizens-awards-finalist.md","title":"ClearCOGS Named 2026 Citizens Awards Finalist","headline":"ClearCOGS Named Finalist for Best Sustainability Program in 2026 Citizens Awards","description":"ClearCOGS is one of four finalists for Best Sustainability Program in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's 2026 Citizens Awards.","section":"Business","published_at":"2026-10-23T23:58:36+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-23T23:58:36+00:00","author":"News Desk","key_takeaways":["ClearCOGS was named one of four finalists for Best Sustainability Program in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's 2026 Citizens Awards.","A 2024 study estimated food waste prevention with ClearCOGS avoids 2.90 to 4.48 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions per restaurant location each month.","Winners will be announced during the Business Solves conference, October 27-28 in Washington, D.C."],"companies":[{"name":"ClearCOGS","is_primary":true,"profile_url":"https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00008jq/clearcogs","website":"https://www.clearcogs.com/?utm_campaign=46477423-Visibility-Profiles&utm_source=crunchbase&utm_medium=referral"}],"source":{"publisher":"FinancialContent Business Page","title":"ClearCOGS Named 2026 Citizens Awards Finalist for Helping Restaurants Prevent Food Waste","url":"https://www.financialcontent.com/article/accwirecq-2026-10-23-clearcogs-named-2026-citizens-awards-finalist-for-helping-restaurants-prevent-food-waste"},"other_sources":[{"publisher":"Prtimes","url":"https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000029.000168555.html"},{"publisher":"Perishable News","url":"https://perishablenews.com/deli/gellert-global-group-wins-2026-sustainability-award/"}],"tags":["Business","ClearCOGS"],"body_markdown":"[ClearCOGS](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00008jq/clearcogs) has been named a finalist for Best Sustainability Program in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's 2026 Citizens Awards, the FinancialContent Business Page [reported](https://www.financialcontent.com/article/accwirecq-2026-10-23-clearcogs-named-2026-citizens-awards-finalist-for-helping-restaurants-prevent-food-waste). The Chicago-based company, founded in 2021, sells an AI-powered SaaS platform that delivers ingredient-level demand forecasting, prep, labor and ordering recommendations for restaurants.\n\n## ClearCOGS Joins Four Finalists in Sustainability Category\n\nClearCOGS is one of four finalists in the category, alongside Allagash Brewing Company, Netafim North America, and U-Haul International. Winners will be announced during the Business Solves conference, October 27-28 in Washington, D.C., according to the Foundation's announcement.\n\nThe company's decision intelligence platform combines data from restaurants' existing systems with AI-powered forecasts and restaurant-specific operating requirements. Its outputs include daily prep sheets, order guides and labor plans.\n\n\"Throwing away food hurts twice. You lose the ingredients and the time your team spent preparing them,\" said Matt Wampler, cofounder and CEO of ClearCOGS. \"We help operators make those decisions earlier, with a clearer picture of what they'll need. Reducing waste becomes part of running a more profitable restaurant, something the team can act on every day.\"\n\nIn a firsthand account published in March 2026, Don W. Bradley, a Manhattan Bagel franchise owner and author of Don B From the Dish Pit, described using ClearCOGS to plan production for a product that takes roughly 24 hours to make. He reported reducing bagel waste and saving about $4,000 per month in labor costs related to overproduction after tightening production quantities and adjusting baking shifts.\n\nA 2024 report by McKenzie Huneke, completed during an Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps fellowship at ClearCOGS, estimated that food waste prevention with ClearCOGS can avoid 2.90 to 4.48 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions per restaurant location each month, depending on ingredient types. The study also reported average monthly food waste prevention of 380 pounds per location across the customers analyzed.\n\n## ClearCOGS Funding and Platform Scale\n\nAccording to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data), ClearCOGS closed an oversubscribed $3.8 million seed round in April 2025 to scale the AI restaurant operations platform, led by Closed Loop Partners' Venture Group with participation from Myriad Venture Partners and Level Up Ventures. The same records show total funding of $4.8 million across three rounds, a customer base of more than 300 brands, and an average waste reduction of 55% across that base. The company expanded from ingredient-level demand forecasting into labor forecasting, menu item forecasting, ordering automation and a brand visibility dashboard in 2024, growing to seven product modules.\n\n## Other Food Waste and Sustainability Recognition\n\nToo Good To Go Japan was selected as a client for the Young Lions 2027 Japan domestic selection, a competition by Cannes Lions, [Prtimes reported](https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000029.000168555.html) on October 23, 2026. The challenge asks participants to propose solutions for reducing food waste among Asian advanced-country consumers, and the company reports 500,000 registered users in Japan within 3.5 months of launch. Gellert Global Group won a 2026 Sustainability Award from The Shelby Report for its food industry sustainability efforts, [Perishable News reported](https://perishablenews.com/deli/gellert-global-group-wins-2026-sustainability-award/) on October 16, 2026, citing over 3,000 solar panels, a 96% electric forklift fleet, and 150,000 pounds of food donated to food banks in 2025.\n\n## Citizens Awards Winners Due October 28\n\nThe Foundation's finalist announcement states that winners will be announced during the Business Solves conference, held October 27-28 in Washington, D.C.\n","publisher":{"name":"News for Agent","url":"https://newsforagent.com"}}