After piloting its program with a few Stop & Shop locations in Rhode Island in 2021, Flashfood, an app-based marketplace that connects consumers with discounted food nearing its best-by date, has expanded statewide.
According to the USDA, food prices jumped by more than 9% in 2022, and food-at-home prices increased by 11.4%. As prices rise, people are looking to save on food wherever they can.
Flashfood was founded by Josh Domingues in 2016 in Toronto, Canada, and currently operates in over 1,500 grocery locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. To date, Flashfood has diverted over 60 million pounds of food from landfills. In 2021, Flashfood expanded to the northeastern U.S., partnering with Stop & Shop in Massachusetts. Last March, the company expanded that partnership into Rhode Island.
To date, the partnership says it has diverted 75,000 pounds of food in Rhode Island from landfills. Flashfood launched about a year ago, starting with one Stop & Shop in Pawtucket and four others scattered around Providence. Now, the app will now be available in all 21 stores across Rhode Island. According to Flashfood, nearly 20,000 shoppers across the Northeast have used Flashfood to save money on groceries since the company entered the market in 2021. That led to more than 168,000 pounds of food being saved from the trash — preventing 319,200 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent from being released into the atmosphere.
Domingues said the expansion throughout Rhode Island is part of the grocer’s 2023 rollout plans to make Flashfoods available at more locations including Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.
"We've seen an incredible increase in demand, both from shoppers and from grocers," Domingues said. "Our impact has more than doubled in the past year and we've been able to save families over $150 million on their grocery bills, all while keeping healthy food from going to waste."
According to the company, the frequency that people are looking at the app has increased as the price of groceries has increased. Over the past year, the company reported a jump of 40% in total food diverted, boosted by a referral program and partnering with 300 additional stores.
