Ben Chesler

Founder

Ben Chesler has been a lifelong social entrepreneur focused on solving big problems. While in high school he co-founded a non-profit that went on to raise $100,000+ to combat the child sex trade. In college, he started the Food Recovery Network to bridge the gap and recover food and donate it to food banks and shelters in the community.

After graduation, Ben co-founded Imperfect Produce (which turned into Imperfect Foods) as his first attempt at a for-profit solution to food waste. The idea was simple - recover some of the 6 billions pounds of “ugly” fruits and vegetables that go to waste every year on US farms and provide customized boxes of produce delivered to people’s doors for 30% less than grocery store prices. From a small warehouse in the Bay Area in 2015, they grew the business over the next 5 years to over $500MM in sales across the country. Along the way, they expanded into grocery to become the largest mission-driven online grocery store in the U.S. Committed to building a business the right way with full-time employees and full benefits, they are proud to provide living-wage jobs for over 1,500 employees.

Over his 5 years at Imperfect, Ben wore pretty much any hat you can wear, from COO to CTO to Head of Strategy. He now sits on the board. Somewhere in the middle Forbes named him 30 Under 30.

Since leaving Imperfect, Ben has started advising and mentoring mission-driven social entrepreneurs so they can avoid some of the mistakes he made. He's also the Director of Venture Creation at the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine.