A mobile app diverting restaurant-quality food from the bin and into people's bellies at a discount launched in Wellington today.
Photo: 123RF
The launch aims to reduce some of the 192 tonnes of food and green waste that goes to Wellington's landfill each week.
Excess hospitality food in the capital city often ends up dumped, but more than half of it is good to eat.
New mobile app service Foodprint hopes to reduce food waste in Wellington while offering access to cheaper food.
The app operates similarly to other food-ordering platforms, except eateries list items individually as the rush hours draw to an end and at a discount of at least 30 percent.
Customers then can browse the app, add items to their cart, and pick them out from a chosen outlet.
Foodprint founder Michal Garvey believes food waste is a bigger issue than some might think.
"Food waste is a real issue both socially and environmentally. New research out suggests it accounts for up to 10 percent of our global greenhouse gas emissions, and it's something that should be totally avoidable," she said.
The country's food waste statistics are far from palatable.
Each year almost 24,000 tonnes of food is thrown out by cafes and restaurants around New Zealand. Over 60 percent of that is avoidable.
When food gets thrown into a landfill, it can't decompose naturally and instead produces the greenhouse gas, methane.
Wellington City Councillor Laurie Foon, who holds the waste minimisation portfolio, said the city's food waste was frightening.
"Food and organic waste is the biggest quantity of waste that goes into our landfills every week. At the moment that figure is 33 percent," she said.
The app was born out of Michal Garvey's keen interest in sustainability and practical experience in hospitality industries across the globe.
After launching the app in Auckland last year, Wellington had been highly requested by foodies and restaurants to be included.
Her idea and infant app awarded her a spot in a climate-focused business programme by Creative HQ, which she said allowed her to launch so quickly.
Foon said Foodprint had great potential to fill a much-needed gap in Wellington's waste scene.
While other initiatives such as Kaibosh aim to intercept food waste on larger scales, it can be the individual cafes that fall through the cracks.
"What we need is more of these upstream systems to help intervene with waste before it gets to the landfill. The landfill is the absolute ambulance at the bottom of the cliff," Councillor Foon said.
On its first day, the app had over 30 eateries signed up, and Garvey received enquiries throughout the day.
Yoshi Sushi & Bento co-owner and Foodprint's newest partner Helen Kono said it was a no-brainer.
"You never want to throw away food, but there's also limitations on how long food lasts. So if you take it to a kitchen it might not be great by the time it gets there. So having those instantaneous sales, that really helps," she said.
Kono said she sold some of her listed meals within minutes. Garvey hopes it is just the beginning.