The Waikato region is receiving a sustainability boost to its hospitality sector with Foodprint, a new tool that connects customers to discounted surplus food from local eateries, officially launching in Hamilton, Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Raglan on 2 May.
Combating the climate crisis by minimising food from going to waste, Foodprint operates by offering generously discounted surplus food from eateries to customers to ‘rescue’ before it is thrown out. Customers order and pay for food in the app before collecting directly from the eateries, with the significant discounts ranging from 30 to 90 percent off the normal retail price.
Almost 50,000 tonnes of food is wasted by the hospitality and retail sectors in New Zealand each year, over 60 percent of which is still edible. When food is thrown out it decomposes in landfills and emits the greenhouse gas methane, making food waste a huge contributor to climate change.
Foodprint has partnered with around 7 eateries in Raglan including The Herbal Dispensary, SWOP, Wyld, SuperValue, Aroha Sushi, The Hut and The Shack Raglan.
They join the community of 400 eateries in Auckland and Wellington reducing their ‘foodprint’ with the app with customers ‘rescuing’ their surplus food.
“We are excited to be continuing our nationwide expansion by bringing Foodprint to the Waikato region,” says Founder Michal Garvey. “Foodprint is a sustainability driven app that gives customers a chance to take a bite at saving the planet. Addressing food waste has been identified as one of the top actions to combat the climate crisis and is currently under consultation through Ministry for the Environment.”
Foodprint has been working with the local Councils to open their service up to the region. “When I read about the Foodprint app, I knew it was something I wanted to support the roll out of for our district. The app and its mission aligns with the Council’s food waste minimisation objectives and we hope it will provide a way for local businesses to get as much monetary value in their pockets as possible for food they have prepared.” Says Sally Fraser, Waste Minimisation Officer at Waipā District Council.
Foodprint launched in Auckland in 2019. Last year, founder Michal Garvey took part in the country’s first Climate Response Accelerator, a new programme hosted by Wellington’s Creative HQ to supercharge innovative start-ups tackling climate change challenges.
This enabled Foodprint to launch in Wellington and prepare them for nationwide growth in 2022, starting with the Waikato. https://foodprint.app/
