CEO details partnership to reduce food waste: 'It does help really bolster where we are heading'

A Cincinnati-based grocery chain is making major efforts to reduce food waste and tackle food insecurity. 

Kroger has teamed up with Flashfood to handle the sale of groceries that would otherwise go to waste.

"The pilot with Flashfood includes 16 Richmond, Virginia-area locations, building on the grocer's sustainability efforts," Grocery Dive reported.

Kroger's Zero Hunger Zero Waste foundation was formed to address the growing issue of food waste.

"Nearly 40% of food produced in the U.S. is thrown away. That means 229 million tons of surplus available food goes unsold or uneaten every year, in addition to food left unharvested on farms," the foundation stated. "At the same time, nearly 42 million Americans — 1 in 8 — struggle with hunger. This just doesn't make sense."

Enter Flashfood. Its app helps users scope out great deals in stores. By partnering with grocers, Flashfood negotiates steep discounts for consumers by listing items that are close to their best-by dates. This helps the grocers divert food waste, and it helps community members tackle food insecurity.

For Flashfood, the collaboration with Kroger is a major step. It signals "where we've grown as a business in a much more meaningful way," CEO Jordan Schenck said. "It does help really bolster where we are heading as we grow up as a company and then also grow up as a company in tech in grocery."

Efforts to reduce food waste not only help community members tackle hunger but also contribute to the long-term health of the community. With less food waste, less harmful methane gas is released from landfills, meaning less pollution, better air quality, and a slowdown of rising global temperatures.

"We cut greenhouse gas emissions, food waste, and energy consumption; reduce waste in our operations; optimize water use; offer more sustainable packaging; and practice sustainable sourcing across our supply chain," Kroger said, listing just a few of the ways that reducing food waste contributes to better community health.

Reducing food waste can also help keep food costs down by helping farmers protect their livelihoods and resources of land and water.

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Tackling an issue as big as food waste will take all of us. Every action, no matter how small, makes a difference (and can help you save money). 

From big companies such as Kroger doing their part to individuals who do more with their leftovers or keep food fresh for longer, we can reverse the damaging effects of food waste.

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