Cheap eats at leftover food app
A new food surplus app promising cheap eats up to 80 per cent below retail launches in Auckland this week.
Y Waste started in Australia last year. The app allows member retailers to post deals on unsold food — otherwise destined for the bin — just before closing.
Customers then buy the discounted food via the app and collect it using an e-receipt.
Y Waste director Ian Price, who founded the app with business partner Donny Chien, said 1000 tonnes of food had been sold since the app launched in Sydney and Melbourne last October.
There were now 250 member retailers spread from Townsville to Adelaide.
Auckland had been anobvious next step and he was talking to more than 20 retailers, including large chains.
“It’s a win for everyone. The retailers get a little revenue and save on food waste and [customers] get an up to 80 per cent discount on their food . . . you can feed a family of four for $20.”
Australian retailers to sign up included Caltex, 7/11 and Brumby’s Bakery chains.
The plan was to eventually expand beyond Auckland, Price said.
Food safety was not an issue because customers collected their orders from the retailer direct.
Some retailers gave unsold food to charity, but it could cost the charity too much to pick it up.
“It’s also not very popular to feed the needy with doughnuts and cakes.”
The jump across the ditch was a natural progression, because New Zealand was even more ecoconscious than Australia and only a three-hour flight away, Price said.
A donation tab would also be added to the app, as in Australia, so people could buy meals for others.
This would work by providing charity recipients with a promo code they could then redeem, he said.