Katy Barfield’s journey into food waste reduction began over 20 years ago in a small Melbourne bar she owned, where she witnessed firsthand the staggering amount of perfectly good food going to waste. That moment sparked a mission—one that has since reshaped Australia’s approach to food surplus and sustainability.

Determined to drive change, Katy became the founding CEO of SecondBite, one of Australia’s leading food rescue organizations. However she recognised this solution could not scale to solve the enormous challenge of food waste and saw an even greater opportunity—to prevent surplus food from becoming waste in the first place. That vision led to the creation of Yume, an innovative B2B tech platform that enables food manufacturers to sell and donate excess stock. Today, industry leaders such as Unilever, Mars Food, and General Mills use Yume to ensure high-quality food reaches those who need it, rather than ending up in landfill.

And the impact speaks for itself—to date, Yume has successfully returned $27 million to Australian food manufacturers and diverted over 10.5 million kilograms of food from going to waste, reducing both environmental and economic losses while helping businesses embrace more sustainable practices.

Katy’s leadership and innovation in this space have been widely recognized. In 2023, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her outstanding contributions to food waste prevention and sustainability.