SF native Julia Collins merges food with tech to fight climate change

SAN FRANCISCO -- Born and raised in San Francisco, Julia Collins believes if you want to change the world then you need to change the food system. And she's doing just that. From a young age, she had an entrepreneurial spirit that helped shape her into the successful businesswoman that she is today. In 2015, she co-founded Zume Pizza and founded Planet FWD in 2019.

"I've always just loved the idea of taking something from an idea all the way to a product and market and building a team around it. When I was a little kid, I used to pick flowers around the neighborhood and turn them into bouquets and resell them to my neighbors. I had a babysitting business and car washing business. I've always loved to work," explained Collins.

Julia spent many years in New York's restaurant industry before returning to San Francisco in 2015. She wanted to be closer to family and decided it was time for a change in her career.

"I wanted to pivot out of the brick and mortar, the more traditional restaurant industry, and into this really exciting new burgeoning industry that was called food tech. And I thought there was probably a really special opportunity to merge my passion for food and restaurants with my deep love of technology, " said Collins.

That's how Zume Pizza was born. A robot-powered pizza making and delivery business that truly inspired the spirit of imagination. But there was another calling for Julia. After she became a parent, she realized what food really should be.

"There was something I think about the experience of being responsible for another human that made me feel a lot of focus and energy around this idea of just completely rebuilding our food system. So that it could be carbon neutral, climate friendly, regenerative," said Collins. "And so what happened for me was just this inner awareness of my purpose, so that's why I decided to step away from Zume Pizza and really begin working on Planet FWD."

The mission of Planet FWD is to help tackle the climate crisis by making it easier to bring climate-friendly products to market.

"What we want to do at Planet FWD is help convert our food systems back to those principles of capturing carbon and rebalancing the natural carbon cycle. And we can do that through what we call regenerative agricultural practices or return to indigenous practices of being connected to the land and managing the land," said Collins.

Planet FWD is not only helping the planet, but providing snacks and software to customers. Moonshot snacks use ingredients that are sourced by regenerative agricultural practices that are healthy and tasty. Software is available so other companies can bring sustainable and carbon neutral food products to market.

There are ways to individually make a difference as well. From trying a more plant-based lifestyle to reducing food waste, these choices can make an impact and build momentum.

Collins believes, "You make a choice in your own life. And you tell your neighbor, you tell your sister, you tell your partner. And that's how movements happen. So what we think we're doing at Moonshot is not just encouraging people to buy one climate friendly snack, we really hope that we're starting a new food movement. That's all about living in a more climate friendly way."

You can learn more about Julia, Planet FWD and Moonshot snacks here.

Moonshot snacks can be found in the the following Bay Area retailers: Raley's, Bi-Rite Market, New Leaf and Berkeley Bowl. Learn more about Moonshot snacks here.