An app lets supermarkets reduce waste by selling discounted food items 

Shoppers can see real-time discounts at local stores

Spotted: The World Economic Forum (WEF) reports that the global food industry is responsible for a third of all annual greenhouse gas emissions, with food waste causing around half of these emissions. According to the Norwegian Government, food waste across the entire food chain equated to 68 kilogrammes per person in 2017. 

Norwegian food tech company, Throw No More, has helped retailers sell more than 19 million discounted food items that would otherwise be thrown away through the Throw No More app. The company’s mission is to reduce drastically commercial food waste and its accompanying environmental damage. 

The app is a real-time display of near-expiry and overstocked items available at nearby grocery stores. Simple for retailers to use, the app only requires a single set-up from a company. After that, customers browse and shop as they like with no further input from grocers required. Throw No More points out that customers are likely to buy additional items beyond the discounted ones they go to the store for, helping shops boost sales further. 

Free to use, the app allows users to input postcodes as a means of shopping for deals. That makes it possible to use the app when travelling. With the app, customers can also see the amount of carbon dioxide emissions they prevented with each purchase. 

So far, Throw No More has found that participating stores sell 25 to 89 per cent more of their discounted items than if they didn’t use the app, and that the shops’ overall food waste decreased by four per cent. Customers benefited from an average discount of 47 per cent on the items they bought.  

To date, the company is working with the Joker and Nærbutikken grocery stores in Norway. A current crowdfunding campaign is earmarked for local and regional expansion. 

As well as at the consumption stage, innovations spotted by Springwise in the archive showcase ways technology in the food industry is reducing waste by helping growers boost crop yields and assessing the risk of frost for high-value crops.

Written By: Keely Khoury