It is no surprise that the Real Canadian Superstore Sudbury (RCSS) continues to support various initiatives and partnerships to support its community. The store’s Loop Resource program (Loop) was launched in November 2021 and in that short time, has gained a lot of traction. Loop currently operates in 30+ Loblaw locations in four provinces, helping to keep food out of the landfill. Loop Resource is a company that provides organics services to grocery stores. It replaces landfill and compost programs with a system that directly benefits communities.
Working with local farmers that use unsold food as animal feed to support local agricultural production is one of many ways Loblaw is working to reduce food waste. With Loop, RCSS helps feed animals instead of feeding the compactor at local family farms. Loop has approximately seven to 10 farms supporting each store. If one farm gets too much, they share with the others within the legally bound, waivered, and trained group. Sharing is the best way to ensure that unsold items gets used and stay out of the landfill.
Another key partnership for RCSS is with Flashfood, an app that helps address food waste, which continues to be a global epidemic. Approximately 30 to 40 per cent of food around the world is thrown out. In Canada alone, it is estimated that $3 billion dollars of good food is thrown out by Canadian grocers each year.
To address this issue and find a simple solution to help reduce food waste, RCSS has chosen to partner Flashfood, which was introduced to customers in May 2019. Other locations nationwide also use the app to provide customers with low priced foods all while keeping food waste out of landfills. The app can be downloaded on any smart phone and used by anyone. Currently, the store uses it only for its perishable items.
How it works:
- Each department is responsible for going through the product on the shelf and identifying close dated products up to the date of expiry.
- These items are then uploaded to the Flashfood app and sold at a 50 per cent discount and sometimes more.
- Once the app is downloaded, customers simply place items in their ‘cart’, pay and pick up from the store.
It's that easy! The app also sends notifications to customers and RCSS posts updates on its Facebook page.
In one week alone, the store successfully diverted 2,850 lbs of waste from going to the landfill. And it continues to do this on a weekly basis. It is a win-win situation!
Ready to help reduce food waste and at the same, save money on your grocery bill? Download the app today!