Stop & Shop, Flashfood Team Up to Eliminate Food Waste

Stop & Shop is teaming up with Flashfood to roll out a digital marketplace to its Pawtucket and Providence, R.I., stores following a pilot that will not only lower shoppers' grocery bills but will help eliminate food waste at the retail level.

Using the Flashfood app, shoppers can save on fresh items such as meat, produce, dairy and bakery, as well as nonperishable foods and snacks that are nearing their best-by dates. Purchases are made directly through the app and customers then simply pick up their order from the Flashfood zone located inside their participating Stop & Shop store.

“Each year we aim to give back to the communities we serve in an effort to fight hunger, food waste and help our shoppers save money,” said Gordon Reid, president of Stop & Shop, in a statement. “Alongside our community donation programs, Flashfood is another program we’re excited about to give our customers a new opportunity to save on fresh foods. We’ve already seen how the program helps families significantly save money on their grocery bills, while also helping our environment.”

The digital marketplace connects consumers with discounted food nearing its best by date. To date, “Flashfood has diverted 30 million pounds of food from ending up in landfills throughout the U.S. and Canada and has saved shoppers almost $90 million in aggregate on their grocery bills,” according to a recent statement.

Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop, Ahold Delhaize USA’s largest brand, said it will be the first Rhode Island retailer to roll out this program for local customers.

Earlier this year, Stop & Shop launched a pilot with the app-based marketplace at four store locations in Worcester, Mass. In 8 months, Stop & Shop said the program resulted in nearly 35,000 pounds of reduced food waste, equating to 2,905 pounds of methane gas prevented from being released into the atmosphere.

“Food waste has been a challenge for the grocery industry for decades, so we are excited to continue working with sustainably-minded partners like Stop & Shop to help alleviate this crisis,” said Josh Domingues, founder and CEO of Flashfood. “Our retail partners are seeing first-hand how through innovation, we really can make an impact. As of this month, the combination of all our retail partnerships have resulted in diverting 30 million pounds of food from ending up in landfills, and this is just the beginning.”

Stop & Shop said Flashfood is available at the following Rhode Island locations: 368-398 Cottage St., Pawtucket; 850 Manton Ave., Providence; 1128 Mineral Spring Ave., North Providence; 333 West River St., Providence; and 1925 Pawtucket Ave., East Providence;