App alerts consumers to discounted food near expiry date

Finland’s Froodly app helps cost-conscious consumers find discounted food from nearby retailers and helps vendors prevent waste and pollution.

Retailers that use the Helsinki-based Froodly app photograph food nearing expiry and post it along with the available discount. This helps companies sell a much wider range of their produce while also preventing additional waste and pollution. Shoppers looking for discounts receive alerts via the app when items in their local stores are discounted.

The app is available for both iOS and Android, and the Froodly team says discounts typically range from 30 to 70 percent off the regular price. And for people who are particularly enthusiastic about helping to prevent food waste, Froodly has teamed up with a variety of Finnish retailers to offer additional discounts. Contributors to the app can upload photos of discounted and near expiry food in order to receive free food and coffee from local supermarkets.

With so many projects trying to prevent leftover food from being wasted, from food banks to restaurants selling unsold meals, where might entrepreneurs start looking along the food chain in order to help prevent waste before it occurs?