Through its nationwide program with Loblaw Companies Ltd., Toronto-based startup Flashfood diverted nearly 5 million pounds of food from landfills and shaved more than $10 million off of grocery bills last year by allowing shoppers to buy deeply discounted groceries and help reduce food waste (via Ottawa Citizen).
Shoppers can buy items approaching their best-before dates from nearby grocery stores for up to 50% off through Flashfood’s smartphone app. They can then pick up their order from a designated Flashfood area.
Flashfood advocate John Kearney recommends the app to all of his friends because of the savings and the environmental impact. “So much food gets wasted so often. It makes me really sad,” he said. “But now I’m taking that food and coming up with some recipes.”
“We have over a million downloads. We’ve fed over 110,000 families across Canada. People are reacting really positively to this,” says Josh Domingues, founder and CEO of Flashfood. “We’ve given the consumer the ability to dictate their purchasing patterns and how that’s going to impact the environment. It’s been really meaningful.”
Since it launch with 138 Maxi and Proviso stores in Quebec, Flashfood has grown to include more than 400 Loblaw stores across Canada and has also expanded into the U.S.
