Tag: Grocery Stores

Fighting Food Waste, One Sector at a Time

Posted on by robbie

America is one of the largest offenders of food waste in the world, according to a recent survey. Every year, roughly 1.3 billion tons of food is thrown out worldwide, a considerable problem given that agriculture contributes about 22 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions and 12.7 million people go hungry in America alone. Entrepreneurs across several sectors have created ways to repurpose food. Their efforts are admirable and economical, but the biggest difference will be if you make food waste reduction a daily habit.

Recovered food from the University of Denver Food Recovery Network chapter.

On College Campuses

On average, a student who lives in university housing throws out 141 pounds of food per year. Multiply that by the number of residential colleges around the country, and it becomes a huge problem, says Regina Northouse, executive director for the Food Recovery Network, the only nonprofit dealing specifically with campus food waste.
WATCH: How Much Food Could Be Rescued If College Dining Halls Saved Their Leftovers?
Northouse’s group reduces waste by enlisting the help of student volunteers at 226 universities. This manpower shuttles still-edible food from dining halls that would otherwise be thrown out to local nonprofits fighting hunger. Northouse estimates that since 2011, Food Recovery Network has fed 150,000 food-insecure people.

Through the box-subscription company Hungry Harvest, farmers sell “ugly food” to consumers instead of tossing the unsightly produce out.

On Farms

If a carrot isn’t quite orange enough, odds are it’ll be tossed. Blemishes and unattractive produce make up nearly 40 percent of discarded food, according to a 2012 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Though some unused fruits and veggies can be sent to food manufacturers, farmers lose profits from about a quarter of their crops because of cosmetic imperfections. To put money back into their pockets, box subscriptions services, such as Hungry Harvest, have found their way into the ugly food market.
“We started out with 10 customers at a stand,” says Stacy Carroll, director of partnerships for Hungry Harvest. “We now have thousands of customers every week buying thousands of pounds of food that would, in the past, have been thrown away.”
Roughly 10,000 subscribers along the East Coast receive weekly boxes of recovered produce from the Baltimore-based company (which was started by the founders of Food Recovery Network). In addition, food insecure families who use SNAP benefits can purchase boxes at 10 Hungry Harvest sites. All in all, the organization redistributes between 60,000 and 80,000 pounds of food through its subscription service each week.

MealConnect provides a platform for retailers to redistribute unsold produce to those in need.

At Food Retailers

For merchants, food wasted is also money wasted. Across the U.S., the cost of tossing food runs upward of $165 billion annually.
MealConnect, a tech platform launched in April by Feeding America (a nationwide network of food banks), allows retailers to post surplus meals and unused produce on its app, which then notifies local food banks workers to pick it up and redistribute it to those in need. The company has recovered 333 million pounds of food by working with large retailers like Walmart and Starbucks. MealConnect also allows merchants to recoup some of their outlays (via tax deductions).

Chef Dan Barber’s wastED pop-ups challenged chefs to create innovate dishes using produce that otherwise would have been thrown out.

In Restaurants

In 2015, the aptly named food popup wastED found itself in the heart of a media frenzy because of what was on the menu: trashed food. 
Since then, a handful of other restaurants in urban areas across the world have used recovered produce in their meals.
“We’re offering our cooks the opportunity to be creative and come up with menus instead,” says Brooklyn, N.Y., chef Przemek Adolf, owner of Saucy By Nature, which uses leftovers from previous catering events to create daily lunch and dinner specials.

The USDA’s FoodKeeper app educates consumers on how to extend the shelf life of stored foods.

In Your Own Kitchen

Individual families throw away nearly $1,600 worth of food per year, according to the EPA, which has spurred the federal government to step in and help.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture created the app FoodKeeper, which informs consumers on how long an apple can last in the fridge, for example, and proper food storage techniques to extend shelf life. It also sends out reminder alerts to use up food that’s in danger of spoiling. The desired outcome? People changing their behaviors, ultimately buying less and consuming what they do purchase.
 

Can Grocery Stores Change the Narrative on Food Waste?

Posted on by robbie

An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from food hunger while the average family in the U.S. wastes $1,500 worth of food annually. Without the help of more conscious consumers and better food practices, that disparity is likely to only grow bigger. But food brands and grocery stores have an opportunity to step in and help make a change, according to a new report from brand innovation firm BBMG.
While some cities like San Francisco are making composting compulsory to reduce the amount of landfill waste, it’s simply not enough.Forget training programs and reach for the controller. But BBMG found by making subtle changes in how food companies approach customers, they could help could alter how consumers are experiencing food and food waste.
The company predicts that reducing waste is possible through making smarter consumer choices and by tapping Generation X and Millennials — two generations who love to consume, but are conscious of the environmental and social values of products. The nation’s younger population can help shift food practices, but must first overcome tendencies to overbuy, a lack of time for shopping, misleading expiration dates and poor food storage, the report finds.
Which is why grocery stores can allay these concerns by providing a few simple nudges for its customers. One example is BagIQ, a startup that’s tailoring a consumer’s experience at the grocery store. The startup aggregates bought items to create a list of healthy recipes based on the recent purchases. Grocery stores can apply a similar model by emailing a customer recipe ideas after they leave the store or through creating meal-planning apps to help organize food.
Grocery stores can also make it easier to donate food to charity or create a game-like experience for shopping lists to help shoppers visualize what they’re buying. As for expiry dates, or “best by” labels, BBMG suggests simplifying language to “Eat me first” stickers to help people recognize food that may spoil, rather than going by often inaccurate dates.
Storing food properly is also a major issue. BBMG said consumers often admit to not understanding optimal storage to avoid food from spoiling sooner. Grocery stores can educate customers on strategic storing, including what should be washed before its stored, if fruits can go next to vegetables and what should be eaten first. An app that helps with meal planning can also help map out when to use fresh produce.
Finally, grocery stores can also improve on waste is by providing consumer rewards and incentives for how often they visit a store rather than how much they purchase. With a tendency to overbuy, incentivizing frequency rather than quantity teaches consumers that it’s not always best to buy in bulk.
While some of these suggestions may take some planning, most are simplistic ways for food brands to innovate the way we think about food. For the 50 million Americans who go hungry, that’s a step worth taking.
MORE: Let’s Hope This Is the Next Big Food Trend

Let’s Hope This Is the Next Big Food Trend

Posted on by robbie

Thinking about your next meal? Forget kale or quinoa or any other trendy fare. Why not try “expired” or “ugly” food instead?
Modern Farmer has proclaimed that salvage grocery stores (where shoppers can find misshapen fruits and veggies, and food that’s past the sell-by dates for steep discounts) are “the next big thing in food.”
The reason why? For an increasingly eco-conscious America, salvage grocery stores don’t just mean savings for your pocketbook, they also help reduce the shocking amount of food that’s wasted in this country.
We’ve said it before: About 40 percent of perfectly edible food that’s produced in this country never makes it onto our plates. That’s 36 million tons of food wasted annually, to the tune of $165 billion, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s not to mention all the energy, carbon emissions and environmental destruction involved in farming and the food manufacturing process. To produce food that’s immediately landfill-bound is also incredibly senseless when 1 in 6 Americans are struggling with hunger.
Surprisingly, one reason why so much is wasted is due to confusion about sell-by dates. Many grocery stores (as well as individual Americans) throw out food that’s deemed bad simply because it’s past the date on the sticker. Dumpsters behind big grocery stores have been found “full to the brim” with fresh or packaged foods that are past these arbitrary dates but would never make anyone sick. Truth is, these labels don’t actually mean much. Even the U.S.D.A. says those dates refer to peak quality and are not a time that designates when it’s safe to consume the food.
MORE: Why This Man is Dumpster Diving for His Meal
Additionally, Americans have gotten used to seeing fruits and vegetables that come without a single bump, bruise or bend. Produce that’s less-than-perfect gets tossed out before it enters anyone’s shopping cart.
But salvage groceries are places where unwanted foods and odd-shaped fruits and veggies can find its way to your fork. Modern Farmer writes that these stores sell just about anything you’d find at a conventional grocery store — from potato chips to organic wine — but for a much cheaper price because salvage grocers buy directly from manufacturers and aren’t as concerned with perfect-looking produce. You’ll also find holiday and seasonal foods, failed products, items with misspelled or misshapen labels and other grocery store castoffs.
Unfortunately, there’s no national database of salvage grocery stores, so you might have to search hard for one near you (if there is one at all). But for your wallet and for the environment, it’s definitely worth the effort.
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This App Helps Reduce Food Waste

Posted on by robbie

Americans waste up to 30 to 40 percent of food, an excess of up to $165 billion a year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Which is why a New York app developer is launching an app to help restaurants and grocery stores find customers who might pay for discounted food before it’s thrown away.

PareUp is an online platform that allows food vendors to list excess items at a reduced price, which is often food they’re unable to donate because of regulations or the items don’t meet the minimum bulk requirement for food banks or shelters.

“We want to change the cultural conversation around what it means to consume food and the life cycle of food,” co-founder Margaret Tung said. “Because we’re throwing out a lot more than needs to be.”

Tung, along with Jason Chen and Anuj Jhunjhunwala, created the app to both benefit retailers and consumers. Users can check in on available inventory each day and head to the store to purchase it. PareUp plans to take a small percentage of each transaction.

“A lot of people in food tech today are looking at production, consumption and distribution with all these delivery apps getting funding and attention like Grubhub,” Tung said. “We wanted to look at where people are not really spending that much energy … the next frontier to explore.”

Currently, the app is only available for food shoppers in New York City, but the startup is aiming to launch in Chicago, Los Angeles or Washington, D.C. as well. The company has also received inquiries from retailers in London, Sydney and Toronto, too.

But for now, the biggest hurdle facing PareUp is changing the way in which people think of leftover food, according to Tung. Food that otherwise is headed toward the dumpster is not exactly appetizing.

The company is also hoping to launch a version for food banks or shelters, bridging the gap between nonprofits and food retailers, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Though PareUp isn’t a silver bullet for food waste, it’s a step in the right direction to help retailers unload unused food and support nonprofit efforts.

“[We’re] just trying to pick up where they leave off,” said Tung said of food banks and shelters. “And even still the numbers are pretty huge. The market has enough room for everyone, at least right now.”

MORE: Food Cowboy: Teaching Truck Drivers ‘Nothing Goes to Waste’

How One Man Is Reducing Food Waste and Cutting Grocery Bills at the Same Time

Posted on by robbie

Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s, is at work on a new venture that hopes to extract value from the food that grocery stores throw out.
In June, Rauch opened a new venture in Dorchester, Mass. called The Daily Table, a store that sells discounted food that’s slightly past its sell-by date.
According to Lindsay Abrams of Salon, 40 percent of the food produced each year in America is wasted, in part because supermarkets must throw it out if its sell-by date — a number that a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council and Harvard Law School found is nearly arbitrary — has passed.
Rauch and others argue that there’s nothing wrong with this food and that it could be used to solve the problems of hunger and food insecurity that many Americans face. Rauch further believes this unnecessary food waste can be turned into a profitable business venture.
Offering affordable, healthy food to the working poor — it’s a crazy enough idea that’s likely to work.
MORE: How 40 Pounds of Leftover Broccoli Sparked A Farm-Friendly Innovation