Flashfood's 'Impact' on the Grocery Industry

Company shares its 2023 Impact Report as it continues working with stakeholders to tackle food waste issues

6/12/2024

Flashfood helped its food retail partners divert more than 37 million pounds of food from landfills in 2023.

Flashfood is pulling back the curtain on its successes in 2023 as it looks forward to the year ahead. During the calendar year, the company helped divert more than 37 million pounds of food from landfills and saved shoppers nearly $94 million.

Flashfood’s app marketplace connects shoppers with fresh produce, meat and other high-quality groceries near their sell-by date for up to 50% off, helping to divert food waste from landfills while simultaneously offering great deals on groceries. The company’s value proposition is especially prescient as a new survey of U.S. consumers conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Flashfood found that 52% of Americans are paying more attention to coupons or sales, or buying store brand products over the name brand (48%) as a result of rising grocery prices.

The impact report goes on to share that there are 44 million people experiencing food insecurity in the United States, but the country as a whole is throwing away the equivalent of 145 billion meals annually. Not only is Flashfood looking to be part of the solution, but the company wants to work collaboratively with other stakeholders to make a difference.

“There’s a tendency for technology companies in an emerging industry to be framed as competitors, rather than collaborators,” said Nicholas Bertram, president and CEO of Flashfood. “The waste tech space is critical to the future of this planet, so I think that’s irresponsible. Our people and our climate depend on us to solve this problem. The aim of Flashfood’s annual impact report is not just to communicate our progress, but to offer research and insights the industry can benefit from, and to highlight other organizations we support. Through partnership I genuinely believe that the best days of humanity are ahead of us, not behind us, and I hope the industry can join me in this optimism.”

During 2023, the company’s first U.S. partner, Meijer, hit 10 million lifetime pounds of food diverted from landfills. Flashfood also rolled out Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) functionality to the Midwest retailer, and saved SNAP EBT shoppers there more than $400,000. Stop & Shop, meanwhile, expanded its Flashfood use to 301 of its stores, and the company brought on California-based The Save Mart Companies.

Looking forward, Flashfood plans to expand SNAP EBT availability to all of its U.S. partners by the end of 2024. The company also plans to outline how and when it will measure Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, as well as its carbon impact.

By partnering with retailers across North America, Flashfood offers shoppers nutritious staples at affordable prices, and reduces the amount of food going to landfills. The company currently partners with more than 2,000 stores across North America.