# Claire Schlemme

> Claire Schlemme is the co-founder and CEO of Renewal Mill, a food company that turns nutritious manufacturing byproducts such as soybean and oat pulp into shelf-stable ingredients and pantry products. Her path runs from environmental consulting and graduate study at Yale to co-founding Boston organic juice business Mother Juice, where daily piles of pulp made food-system waste impossible to ignore. Renewal Mill, founded in 2016, applies drying and milling to keep overlooked nutrition in the human food supply; Yale reports that the company has now retained more than one million pounds of nutrition in that system.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Renewal Mill
- **Organizations:** Renewal Mill, Mother Juice, Industrial Economics, Inc., Yale Center for Business and the Environment, Upcycled Food Association
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts, Wellesley College, Master of Environmental Management, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (now Yale School of the Environment)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Renewal Mill and developed a model for turning wet food-manufacturing byproducts into shelf-stable ingredients., Renewal Mill has kept more than one million pounds of nutrition in the human food system, according to Yale's Center for Business and the Environment., Won the 2018 IFTNEXT Food Disruption Challenge with Renewal Mill.

## Career timeline

- **2006** — Graduated from Wellesley College and subsequently worked on organic farms in Spain.
- **Before 2012** — Worked as an environmental consultant at Industrial Economics, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- **2011** — Completed a Master of Environmental Management at Yale University.
- **2012** — Co-founded Mother Juice, described by Wellesley and Yale as Boston's first organic juice company.
- **2016** — Co-founded Renewal Mill to transform food-manufacturing byproducts into ingredients and pantry products.
- **2018** — Renewal Mill won the IFTNEXT Food Disruption Challenge.
- **2019** — Renewal Mill received Expo East's Pitch Slam Rising Star Award.
- **2020** — Renewal Mill launched an equity crowdfunding campaign after reporting more than $1.7 million raised to date.
- **2024-2025** — Served as a Yale Center for Business and the Environment Alumni Visiting Mentor.
- **2025** — Led Renewal Mill as one of 20 finalists in the Grow-NY food and agriculture competition.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Renewal Mill and developed a model for turning wet food-manufacturing byproducts into shelf-stable ingredients.
- Renewal Mill has kept more than one million pounds of nutrition in the human food system, according to Yale's Center for Business and the Environment.
- Won the 2018 IFTNEXT Food Disruption Challenge with Renewal Mill.
- Received the Expo East 2019 Pitch Slam Rising Star Award.
- Helped take Renewal Mill through Techstars Farm to Fork, Food Systems 6 and Barilla's Good Food Makers program.
- Co-founded Boston's first organic juice company, Mother Juice.
- Selected for Yale CBEY's 2024-2025 Alumni Visiting Mentor cohort.
- Renewal Mill was selected as a 2025 Grow-NY finalist.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Appeared on the Baking a Better World with Food Waste podcast episode discussing Renewal Mill's upcycling model.
- **2025-11** — Renewal Mill pitched as one of 20 finalists at the 2025 Grow-NY Summit in Canandaigua, New York.
- **2025-08** — Appeared on The Daily Grind podcast to discuss building a market that can sustain food-system impact.
- **2024-09** — Joined Yale CBEY's 2024-2025 Alumni Visiting Mentor cohort.

## Links

- Website: https://www.renewalmill.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claireschlemme
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/renewalmill
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renewalmill
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RenewalMill/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@renewalmill

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/claire-schlemme
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18