Grocery chain revolutionizes shopping experience with simple but powerful upgrade: 'I'm absolutely blown away'

A partnership between a regional grocery chain and a food waste reduction app is proving beneficial for customers, the grocery chain, and the planet.

Chain Store Age reported on the partnership between Earth Fare, a regional grocery retailer operating in the Midwest and Southeast, and Flashfood, an app designed to connect shoppers with discounted produce that's soon to expire.

With Flashfood, Earth Fare shoppers can now buy produce for up to 50% off the initial price, as well as plates from the shop's hot bar and prepared foods section.

So far, Earth Fare reported, their shoppers have saved over $17,000 in grocery costs with Flashfood. They've also kept more than 9,000 pounds of food out of landfills. And according to the store's team, being able to cull produce more efficiently has helped improve their entire produce department.

"I'm absolutely blown away with how easy Flashfood is to use," said Ashley Wolfe, a store team leader in South Carolina. "Once they are set up on the app, I've now gained a customer for Earth Fare."

Wolfe continued, "I've taught that customer to shop from home on the Flashfood app, so I'm getting customers that may not have come to the store in the first place but they're going to come to pick up their Flashfood order."

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It's a great example of how eco-friendly initiatives can be financially rewarding for consumers and brands alike. But the benefits don't stop there.

"It's getting harder and harder for Americans to eat nutritious food, affordably. Families are forced to go with less and yet we're still throwing away millions of meals every year, particularly fresh, unprocessed meals," said Nicholas Bertram, Flashfood's CEO.

Several similar programs exist, such as Misfits Market, Too Good to Go, and Farmers Pick, all of which supply delicious and nutritious groceries that would have otherwise been tossed for being close to an expiration date or simply for having a misshapen appearance.

These programs not only provide healthy food at an affordable price, but they prevent those foods from ending up in landfills, where they would break down and produce planet-warming methane gas.