Flashfood's Brody Slacer at Sustainable Produce Summit: 'I needed to do more'
PALM DESERT, Calif. — In 2015, Brody Slacer realized he had created a monster.
The pivotal moment in his life happened when he ran sourcing for a meal kit company and he had to reject a third pallet of yellow zucchini within 48 hours. The supplier wouldn’t take it back. Food banks had no capacity for the squash. And he couldn’t let people in need or restaurateurs into the warehouse to take it because of food safety risks.
“It was my team who created the spec sheets that said 6- to 8-ounce zucchinis only, and in big, bold letters, it said, ‘Only pick and pack produce that you would give to your mother.’ What had I done? How had I gone from a family of farmers to this? ... It was in that moment when I realized I needed to do more,” said Slacer, the keynote speaker at The Packer and PMG’s Sustainable Produce Summit on May 18.
That frustrating moment of inevitable food waste led him to become head of growth and impact at Flashfood, based in Toronto. Flashfood enables grocery chains to sell surplus food through the Flashfood app at big discounts for its users while reducing store-level food waste.
Users see deals on food through their phone, pay through their phone and pick their items up in-store. The technology company helps grocers reduce shrink, provides consumers with an accessible way to purchase healthy, fresh food and diverts surplus food that may have otherwise gone to waste.
“One of the biggest challenges of food waste is logistics,” Slacer told the audience.
Food waste is the single largest solid contributor to municipal landfills in the U.S., he said. And the environmental cost is high. Estimates suggest that 8% to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by food that was not consumed. It’s happening while Americans go hungry.
The bottom line suffers because of food loss and waste.
Already grappling with price inflation, retailers are even more concerned by shrink. No wonder: The estimated cost of food waste at the retail level alone is $26 billion annually in the U.S. and Canada, he said.
Related: Flashfood releases state of food waste report
“We can no longer afford 5% shrink in our produce departments,” he said. “Ultimately, it's going to take a collective effort and ecosystem of simple solutions to solve this problem.”
Flashfood is but one innovative solution of many popping up in recent years at increasing rates.
The service creates more opportunities for shoppers to try new produce. It can bring people into the store that don’t often go and create customer loyalty, essentially “turning scrap into new shoppers,” Slacer said.
Several companies are making off-spec produce attractive to consumers by educating them and selling their goods, like Misfit Market and Imperfect Foods.
“We now have grocers that are making their own lines of off-spec produce, and they're flying off the shelves,” Slacer said.
Companies like Afresh are helping store team members order the right quantity of foods. Divert is a company that makes sure nonconsumable food doesn't end up in a landfill, creating methane gas. Good To Go is making a huge splash in the restaurant and cafe space across North America.
Of course, growers, wholesalers and distributors also have food loss and waste, because it happens at every part of the supply chain.
To tackle this, Flashfood is launching an initiative for a markdown platform for one of a retailer’s distribution centers.
“When we think about the year ahead, it's pretty simple. We need to make Flashfood more accessible. We need to be in as many grocers across as many cities as we possibly can,” Slacer said. “That's our big plan for the year ahead. And we hope that you'll join us there is no more time to waste.”
