Surplus inventory is a recoverable asset.
We built the system to prove it.
SurFlow was created for grocery operators who believe surplus should be tracked, valued, and recovered, not written off as inevitable shrink.
THE PROBLEM
Food waste isn't a sustainability problem. It's a systems problem.
In multi-location grocery operations, the processes that should prevent food waste (inventory visibility, donation coordination, tax documentation, compliance reporting) exist in disconnected silos.
Stores miss donation windows because no one flags expiring inventory early enough. The §170(e)(3) deduction (available to C-corporation operators) goes unclaimed because documentation is manual and inconsistent. ESG reporting is a spreadsheet exercise, not a system output.
The result: chains write off millions in recoverable value every year, not from bad intentions, but bad infrastructure.
Where value leaks
Illustrative view of where recoverable value leaks in multi-location grocery, not measured data
FROM THE FOUNDER
It started with a map.
Before SurFlow, I built ChiFoodScape, a food-insecurity map of Chicago. The goal was to show, block by block, where people could actually get food. Then I ground-truthed it, and the map fell apart: many of the places the data called grocery stores weren't grocery stores at all. The access the map promised didn't exist.
That sent me upstream. The food was never missing. Grocers throw away edible inventory every day, often blocks from the neighborhoods my map was drawn for. And upstream I found the real problem: donation only beats the dumpster economically because of a tax incentive almost nobody documents well enough to claim. Now states mandate the donations too. It's a documentation problem wearing a food-waste costume.
I'm a full-stack engineer — healthcare SaaS, logistics systems — building SurFlow solo and full-time from Chicago, with AI agents as leverage.
What I believe is simple: AI at the messy edges, deterministic math on every dollar. A deduction that can't survive an audit is worth nothing. So SurFlow is deterministic and auditable on purpose, to make doing the right thing with food also the financially obvious thing to do.
Identify surplus before expiration using multi-factor models across every store.
Orchestrate partner pickups, compliance docs, and end-to-end tracking automatically.
Produce audit-defensible §170(e)(3) valuations and reports with zero manual effort.
OUR MISSION
“Transform surplus inventory from operational burden into measurable value, through structured systems that reduce waste and increase financial recovery.
SurFlow
HOW WE THINK
The principles behind the system
These aren't brand values for a website. They're the architectural decisions that shaped SurFlow.
Determinism over guesswork
Every recommendation SurFlow makes is reproducible and explainable. No black-box scoring, no heuristics that drift. Grocers and their finance teams need to stand behind the numbers, so we are.
Financial precision matters
Surplus isn't a sustainability checkbox; it's a recoverable asset. We treat §170(e)(3) enhanced deductions with the same rigor as a CFO would apply to any line item on the P&L.
Operations first
Beautiful dashboards don't reduce shrink. We build for the people who run stores and manage supply chains, not for annual ESG presentations.
Audit-ready by default
Documentation is never an afterthought. Every donation, valuation, and decision trace is produced automatically, ready for IRS review or investor audit without extra work.
WHAT IT MEANS IN PRACTICE
Reducing waste. Recovering revenue.
Feeding communities.
Three outcomes, each measurable, each connected.
shrink written off when surplus is caught early
Reducing Waste
Surplus flagged days before expiration gives operators time to act: more food diverted to donation, less written off as inevitable loss.
enhanced deduction, fully documented per donation
Recovering Revenue
§170(e)(3) enhanced deductions calculated precisely, documented automatically, and delivered to finance teams audit-ready: recovery that most operators currently leave unclaimed.
food reaching communities instead of landfill
Feeding Communities
Surplus that would otherwise expire reaches food banks and community organizations, coordinated automatically, without adding burden to store teams.
Questions about SurFlow?
Reach us at contact@surflow.net
Find out exactly how much your operation is leaving behind
We model your 30-day recovery potential using your store count, product mix, and donation history. No guesswork, no commitments.