Tops shoppers help divert 500,000 pounds of food waste

Tops Friendly Markets is celebrating this Earth Day with a look back at its nearly two-year partnership with Flashfood, a mobile app that seeks to alleviate food waste by connecting local shoppers with grocery items nearing a best-before date.

The Williamsville, N.Y.-based grocer says its shoppers, which include over 6,500 customers, have helped Flashfood divert nearly 500,000 pounds of food from landfills since the partnership began. 

Toronto, Canada-based Flashfood is an interactive in-store food waste program available at 50 Tops locations that allows customers to purchase food nearing its sell-by date. Items including produce, meat, deli, bakery and dairy may be listed at up to a 60% discount on the Flashfood app.

“We are always working on ways to leverage technology to create a better shopping experience for our customers,” Jill Sirica, manager of digital marketing for Tops, said in a release. “Since expanding Flashfood last year to reach more of our customers, we have seen a marked increase in its use by our customers.”

Here’s how it works: Tops posts flash sales of its surplus food items on the mobile Flashfood app available on Google Play or the Apple Store. Shoppers can then search and purchase food directly on the app and pick up their purchased items at the Flashfood area at a designated Tops location.

“When people think of climate change, they think of cars and planes and factories. They don't realize what a massive contributor food waste is to our warming planet,” Josh Domingues, Flashfood founder and CEO, said in a news release. “This Earth Day, we’re thrilled to be celebrating our partnership with Tops, a leader in environmental stewardship and responsible practices.”

“It's a win for the store, the shopper and the environment,” said Tops in the release.

Since its founding in 2016, Flashfood has reached more than 1.7 million users and diverted more than 38 million pounds of food waste from landfills in North America, said Flashfood. The result, added the company, has saved more than 73,193,090 pounds of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions from entering the atmosphere.

Tops Markets currently operates 150 grocery stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont, including five locations that are run by franchisees. The company is dedicated to providing sustainably sourced, high-quality products, while helping its communities flourish via support for programs that eradicate hunger and disease, educate youth and reduce environmental waste and energy consumption, said Tops.

Flashfood is currently live in more than 1,200 grocery stores throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin and Canada. In addition to Tops Friendly Markets, the company’s partners include Meijer, The Giant Company, Stop & Shop, SpartanNash, Giant Eagle, Loblaw Corp., and more. Flashfood is available on iOS and Android.