I was recently reading about a local chef making more than 3,600 portions of food from one day’s worth of waste from a grocery store. This waste primarily consists of food that has reached its sell-by date, defined as the date set by manufacturers to tell retailers when to remove the product from shelves, even though the food may last days to weeks longer.

In a coincidence not too long after, I accepted an offer (with credits) to test an app called Flashfood that is meant to reduce this grocery store food waste. According to a release, Flashfood has so far worked with five grocery store chains, including Hy-Vee, to divert more than 100,000 units of food.

“We’re thrilled Hy-Vee has chosen to participate in reducing their food waste through the Flashfood platform,” Flashfood Founder and CEO Josh Domingues said in a statement. “They have a brand synonymous with innovation, and we are excited to offer their products from their Madison and Fitchburg … locations to our community.”

Using the app is fairly simple. In our area, you’ll see the Hy-Vee grocery stores on a map. Once you select one, you will see its regularly changing inventory of food and non-food items approaching its “best before” date at reduced prices, around 50 percent off.

For example, a pork loin chop priced at $5.39 was reduced to $2.69. Meanwhile, I was surprised to see things like Clorox detergent pods ($5.99 down to $2.99).

On the day I shopped, there wasn’t any meat or bread, unfortunately. I ended up with Performance Inspired protein tortilla chips, Boomchickapop trail mix, Dole classic romaine and a beef fajitas meal kit. The total was $15.22, down from the regular price of $30.47.

After you choose the items you want, you pay for the items in the app, and then you are supposed to pick up your items at the customer service counter at the store. This is the step in which I was a bit confused, so I’m going to educate you:

Your items are actually not pre-bundled for you. Instead, you’ll go to the Flashfood fridge to grab your perishable items and the shelf to grab the non-perishable ones (see photo). Then head to the counter, where an employee will confirm that you have picked up your pre-paid items.

Flashfood is definitely worth downloading, especially if you shop at Hy-Vee. The free app–available on Android and iOS–won’t meet all your grocery needs, but it certainly will supplement them. And remember, using it helps reduce food waste while saving you money, and that’s a win-win.

Tags: apps, grocery stores

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2019 at 6:00 am and is filed under Food and Beverage Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.