The app, which sells discounted surplus groceries, is expanding to the South Island

A phone app that connects customers to restaurant surplus groceries is expanding in the South Island.

Launched in 2019, Foodprint now has 350 restaurants across the country on the mobile app, where people can buy food that would otherwise go to waste.

Founder and Director Michal Garvey said Foodprint offers cafes, restaurants and other hospitality businesses a platform to sell surplus and imperfect food at a discount to prevent it going to waste.

“Everything is reduced by at least 30% off the original price, so when you buy groceries you can feel good about avoiding food waste while supporting local businesses.”

Garvey launched the mobile app after realizing that hospitality and grocery retailers were often left out of traditional food rescue services.

Data shows that in New Zealand nearly 50,000 tonnes of food is wasted in hospitality and retail every year, more than half of which is still edible.

Research from the University of Otago and Love Food Hate Waste found that over 60 percent of the food that is wasted in most hospitality establishments is actually still edible.

“These are foods that have been prepared and typically sat in a cupboard and not sold so sadly ended up in the bin – these are the kind of foods that Foodprint really looks at, edible foods that there is absolutely nothing wrong with, just nobody bought it today.”

Garvey said feedback from restaurants using the app is that it has helped both reduce food waste and preserve the monetary value of items that would otherwise be thrown away.

This was particularly important as the hospitality sector faced challenges with Covid-19 and inflationary pressures.

Foodprint received a $10,000 grant from Nelson City Council to minimize waste for the area rollout. It will go live on March 21st.

About 20 restaurants have already signed up in Nelson and Tasman.

rnz.co.nz

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