BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Supermarkets throw away around 43 billion pounds of food each year. 50 percent of it, is still edible. In 2019, Tops Friendly Market recycled 834 tons of food. Food that could have been eaten by you or me.
“On a daily basis, the average store is throwing out about five to ten thousand dollar worth of food a day," CEO and founder of Flashfood, a Toronto based mobile app connecting families to discounted grocery store foods, Josh Domingues said.
But Josh Domingues wanted to change that with his app Flashflood.
“We took the discount food rack, made it sexy. Put it on your cellphone,” Domingues said.
The apps goal is to reduce food waste, and in Canada where the app originated, Domingues said he has already seen success.
“In 2019 alone, we diverted over ten million pounds worth of food from a landfill that would have been thrown out," Domingues said. " We saved Canadians over 5 million dollars in our first year.”
And Domingues said he hopes to do the same thing in America. On Monday, he teamed up with six Tops Friendly Markets to bring Flashfood to the Buffalo region.
“The types of foods that will be available on the Flashfood app and will be available for purchase today will be from the produce department, bakery, meat, dairy, pretty much across the whole store,” Director of Marketing for Tops Markets Edward Rick said.
Everything purchased on the Flashfood food app is nearly 50% off and the app is available for download in the Google Play or App Store.
“In today's economic environment we know that our customers are looking for anyway they can to save money on their groceries. So we’re excited to bring them the Flashfood program to ultimately help them save money, and then help the environment at the same time."
List of Participating Tops Markets
- 355 Orchard Park Rd., West Seneca, NY
- 3980 Maple Rd., Amherst, NY
- 3865 Union Rd., Cheektowaga, NY
- 9660 Transit Rd., Amherst, NY
- 2101 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY
- 12775 Broadway, Alden, NY
