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Life is full of minor inconveniences. Most people see them as annoyances, but entrepreneurs see opportunities. Small frustrations can spark ideas that lead to big solutions, and many of the best companies are built by solving problems others overlook.
That’s exactly what Dylan Wolff has done with his water conservation startup, CNSRV.
A cooler way to thaw
Wolff, a Southern California native, was introduced to the issue that now dominates his life through a bartending friend.
“He told me the restaurant wasn’t serving drinking water to customers unless they asked for it — a policy to conserve water. But in the back of the house, in the kitchen, they were running the faucet for 10 hours a day to defrost frozen food. That’s over 4,000 gallons of water straight down the drain.”
This isn’t an isolated issue. Every year, billions of gallons of water are wasted in the U.S. food industry during the defrosting process. One turkey breast can take 5 hours of running water. It seems like small potatoes, but when you multiply that across every restaurant in America, the environmental cost is staggering.
After this epiphany, Wolff immersed himself in the wondrous world of food defrosting. He found that restaurants use three main methods: refrigerating the food, microwaving it or running it under cold water.
The fridge method takes days to defrost, creating an “inventory nightmare”, and we all know that microwaved food isn’t quite the same. That leaves the cold water method, which would be perfect if not for the thousands of gallons wasted each day.
“I spoke with as many people in commercial kitchens as I could, and kept hearing the same thing,” Wolff says. “It’s just the nature of the business.”
Undeterred, Wolff turned words into action, meeting with health departments to fully understand the code and reverse-engineer a solution. Working with his partner, Brett Abrams and Tim Nugent, head of R&D, he developed an early prototype that uses a proprietary defrosting method combining water agitation and precise temperature control.
That prototype would become the DC: 02, a defrosting machine that cuts thawing time in half using 98% less water than traditional methods, and improves food quality, all while saving thousands in utility expenses.
Efficiency meets affordability
When Wolff started, there were hardly any players in the defrosting industry, and none with a completely portable technology.
“There are alternatives, but they’re $35,000 blast chillers that need a dedicated 220 outlet and a lot of kitchen space,” Wolff says. “We’ve built something that uses the space they’re already defrosting in, plugs into a standard 120 outlet, uses little power, and completely optimizes the process.”
For customers who don’t care about water savings, Wolff jokes that he can “Trojan horse” it in.
“They’ll care about the improved quality and saving time,” he says.
They’ll also care about new rebate programs from municipalities in Southern California ($800 per unit) and Tampa, Florida ($1,000 per unit).
“The Metropolitan Water District has a program that provides grants to innovations in the water conservation space,” Wolff explains. “I received that grant, along with the third-party validation of our technology that came with it.”
For consumers, that means when you buy a DC:02, you’ll get a check back from the Metropolitan Water District. Wolff envisions this resonating with smaller restaurants and grocers, who benefit personally from the savings while contributing to the larger cause of water conservation.
Related: 7 Water-Saving Strategies for Your Business
Though passionate about the environment, Wolff has no formal training in sustainability or water conservation. What he does have is a background in product development, management, and an entrepreneurial drive. He bootstrapped CNSRV through its early stages, raising capital from friends and family before catching the attention of venture group Burnt Island Ventures, which provided the funding to take the next step.
“I always knew I wanted to do something entrepreneurial,” Wolff says. “I just needed that spark—the problem to solve. This was a serendipitous intersection of my strengths in business and my passion for sustainability. Finding this solution is exactly where I want to focus my time and energy.”
Life is full of minor inconveniences. Most people see them as annoyances, but entrepreneurs see opportunities. Small frustrations can spark ideas that lead to big solutions, and many of the best companies are built by solving problems others overlook.
That’s exactly what Dylan Wolff has done with his water conservation startup, CNSRV.
A cooler way to thaw
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Leo Zevin
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