CLARKSBURG, W.Va (WDTV) – Kroger has introduced Flashfood storage units at the front of its stores as part of a new partnership aimed at reducing food waste while making fresh, affordable groceries more accessible.
The app offers customers discounted products that may otherwise end up in a landfill. Flashfood started in Richmond in 16 Kroger stores before expanding to 105 stores in the mid-Atlantic, including a majority of West Virginia locations.
Through the partnership, Flashfood sees a 27% reduction in food waste at grocery stores. To date, Kroger has reduced 350,000 pounds of food waste from Flashfood.
The partnership came from Kroger’s Zero Hunger Zero Waste Impact Plan.
“We have our Zero Hunger Zero Waste Impact Plan, which focuses on eliminating hunger and also improving sustainability within the company and Flashfood was a great partner to do exactly that,” said James Menees, head of communications for Kroger Mid-Atlantic.
Flashfood shares a similar mission to Kroger, wanting to make sure good food does not go to waste and that people get to access the food that they need. Consumers make their purchase on the Flashfood app, enter the store, and then find Flashfood coolers and racks that have the products waiting for them.
The company also partners with Kroger’s health nutrition team to ensure people are getting food that is good for them.
“When grocery bills start to squeeze people, I think the first thing that happens is people start to choose the food that’s less expensive, which tends to be kind of ultra-processed and packaged goods and so that’s really what Flashfood is trying to do, is help people afford the food that’s most nutritious, like meat and produce and those sorts of things,” said Esther Cohn, vice president of communications for Flashfood.
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