Flashfood Issues 2022 Impact Report
App-based platform Flashfood has unveiled its first annual “Impact Report: The State of Food Waste” at the ReFED 2023 Food Waste Solutions Summit, in St. Louis. The report discusses how reducing waste at retail can lower greenhouse-gas emissions, slow climate change, and tackle the connected problems of hunger and food insecurity.
[Read more: "Stop & Shop Further Commits to Curbing Food Waste"]
According to a 2023 survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Flashfood, the majority of adult grocery U.S. shoppers are struggling with the cost of healthy eating, and they view the reduction of food waste as an important priority. The survey further found that:
- 88% of Americans said managing food waste is important to them.
- 68% of Americans agreed that the rising cost of food is making healthy eating more difficult for them.
- 77% of Americans are concerned about the environmental impact of food waste.
- 75% of Americans believe that reducing food waste is important for solving climate change.
“At Flashfood, we believe everyone deserves to eat healthy, affordable food and to live on a thriving planet. Food waste stands in the way of both,” noted Josh Domingues, founder and CEO of Toronto-based Flashfood. “That’s why we’re setting our sights on massive expansion this year: to be available in more places and at more stores, with the goal of saving our consumers money on groceries and rescuing millions more pounds of food from landfills.”
The report also notes the company’s milestones and highlights its retail partners.
“We wanted this report to reflect the incredible impact of our retail partners,” affirmed Flashfood President and COO Nicholas Bertram, who joined the company this past February. “These exceptional operators understand the fundamental link between hunger and waste. They see the opportunity that this massive problem has created, which is why they’ll be the ones to help solve it – and win.”
“Retailers play an especially important role because they sit at the center of the food system and have so much opportunity to influence the supply chain upstream and downstream,” observed Dana Gunders, executive director of the Long Island City, N.Y.-based national food waste nonprofit ReFED, in the report. “By implementing waste reduction solutions in their operations, retailers can not only benefit their bottom lines, but they can show their customers and partners what’s possible.”
To date, Flashfood has teamed with more than 1,700 stores across North America, among them locations operated by Giant Eagle, Giant Food, Meijer, Save A Lot, SpartanNash, Stop & Shop, Tops Market and Vallarta Supermarkets (the first West Coast banner to feature the program). Shoppers using Flashdfood can save up to 50% off items nearing their best-by date, including meat, dairy, seafood, fresh produce and baked goods that would otherwise go to landfills.
