Loblaw rolls out food waste-fighting app nationally

After launching at 139 Maxi and Provigo stores in Quebec earlier this year, Loblaw Companies Limited is rolling out the Flashfood app to additional banners and provinces.

The app, which allows users to purchase surplus food directly from grocers via their phone at drastically reduced prices, is now available at all Real Canadian Superstore locations in Ontario. By the end of the summer, the app will be available to customers at more than 250 stores across Western Canada, Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

"Our goal is to provide our customers with easy access to quality fresh food and grocery items at low prices. The Flashfood program allows us to provide our customers with a convenient and environmentally sustainable way to purchase food," said Gord Chem, senior vice-president, Real Canadian Superstore operations, Loblaw Companies Limited, in a press release.

READ: The fast and the fresh

Once consumers download the Flashfood app to their smartphone, they can browse fresh food items (uploaded daily and usually discounted 30% to 50%), make the purchase online, and pick up their groceries in-store at a Flashfood Zone refrigerator. The average online sale is $10 to $15, while shoppers typically spend one to two times that on other in-store goods.

Launched by Josh Domingues in 2017, Flashfood estimates it has diverted more than 50,000 pounds of food from North American landfills since its inception.