Napa, CA –Andrew Cates, co-founder of The Wine RayZyn Co., plans to turn the Northern California fire tragedy into a blessing for others by partnering with Food Recovery Network to repurpose unharvested wine grapes from vineyards affected by the wildfires.

The Cates family vineyard, the Segassia Vineyard, produces high-end Cabernets and had plans for picking grapes right before the wildfires began to spread. The vineyard may not be able to produce a 2017 vintage, Cates says.

The Wine RayZyn Company, inspired by Segassia, produces crunchy superfoods which are hand-harvested wine grapes using a patented drying process that naturally sweats out the water of the grape and uses the residual natural sugars to caramelize and toast the wine grape’s seed inside the fruit. Because seeds remain inside the fruit, RayZyns provide 20% of one’s daily fiber in a single serving and more antioxidants than a glass of red wine.

"It's inspiring to be able to collaborate with The Wine RayZyn Company to turn what was such a horrific event into a partnership that can ensure perfectly good food can still be used to feed people, and to fight food waste," said Regina Northouse, executive director of Food Recovery Network.

Food Recovery Network was founded in 2011 and is the largest student movement against food waste and hunger in America. The partnership plans to create an avenue for affected vineyard owners and wineries to donate their wine grapes that can no longer be used to make wine.

The Wine RayZyn Company will be able to repurpose those wine grapes into Wine RayZyns. The shelf-stable RayZyns carry a 2+ year shelf life and could then be used to help victims and relief efforts stemming from other natural disasters like the hurricane victims in Florida, Houston, Puerto Rico, as well as the victims of the Northern California wildfires.

For more information on how you can help, contact Northouse at regina.northouse@foodrecoverynetwork.orgor Cates atinfo@razyn.com

The Wine RayZyn Company will also donate 1% of online RayZyn sales at rayzyn.com for the month of October directly to Napa Valley Fire relief efforts.

Published on WholeFoods Magazine Online, 11/25/17