Food waste is a big problem worldwide.

I’m talking about food waste from our kitchen like banana peels, potato peels, chicken bones, stale bread, half-eaten sandwiches, etc. You get the idea, right?

Yes, they smell bad. But that isn’t the major problem. These wastes end up in landfills, where they release harmful gases like methane, which aren’t good for our environment.

In fact, methane is many times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

In 2020, Matt Rogers and Harry Tannenbaum had an interesting solution to the problem. What if there were a trash bin that could convert food waste into a resource?

That’s how Mill was born.

It’s a beautiful kitchen appliance that converts food waste into food grounds overnight. The best part? The food grounds don’t stink. So, how does it work? You put the food waste into it. Overnight, they dry the food waste and then convert into grounds. Yes, odorless and nutritious grounds.

You can use that ground in your garden or even feed it to your backyard chickens. Interesting, right?

What’s even more interesting is their revenue model. You can buy the bins for $999 outright or on a monthly subscription of $35 a month. Irrespective of the plan, you get app access, smart features, bin maintenance, and support.

Mill also offers an optional pickup service for $9.99 a month where it picks up food grounds from customers, processes them and sells them to small farms. The revenue from selling the food grounds goes to Mill and not to customers. Customers opting for pickup service do so as a gesture of support to the planet Earth.

So, to summarize, Mill makes money from hardware (bin) sales, subscription services, pickup subscription services, and selling food grounds to small farms.

Furthermore, Mill’s bins are in many corporate offices.

They’re successful, having secured $70M in funding during 2023. Revenue numbers are not available, though.

This business has a clear value proposition. You buy a bin that turns food waste into something useful. Yes, it’s free fertilizer and chicken feed. But the core benefit is doing something for the planet. And that benefit is priceless. So, no surprise that Mill is a success.

I find it quite weird when businesses complicate their business models and products. Keep it simple. Your customer should understand your product’s value fast. In other words, buying your product should be an easy decision.