excess food – The Concordian

An increasing number of grocers have taken to offering online ordering services.

The consumer can add food items to their cart, and either pick it up in store or have it delivered at a cost. But what if you could do this and contribute to eliminating waste at the same time?

Montreal-based startup FoodHero offers a virtual market, allowing merchants to sell food that would have otherwise ended up in the garbage – products that are still consumable. But FoodHero is not a food company.

“We are actually a technology company,” said Alexandria Laflamme, a FoodHero representative. “We developed an application with the primary goal to counter food waste.”

It is no secret that many food merchants dispose of food items that are still good. As per Second Harvest’s 2019 The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste report, nearly 60 per cent of food produced in Canada is wasted annually. In fact, Canada is among the top emitters where food waste is concerned. According to the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition’s (BCFN) 2018 Food Sustainability Index, Canada ranks fifth for overall food loss and waste.

“Our interface gives the consumer a chance to go give a second life to these products,” said Laflamme, adding that the products are offered at 25 to 60 per cent off their original price. Customers can search for products by store proximity and filter through food categories, allowing for them to shop accordingly to their diet, whether it be vegetarian, lactose-free, Halal or Kosher.

“Consumers are always thinking ‘oh, I don’t know what I can do,’ but FoodHero gives them the power to do something,” said Laflamme. “We act as an intermediary agent between the consumer and the merchant, and use technology to give them power.” She added that this technological aspect allows for their collaborators to still feel as though they are in charge and contributing to the issue at hand.

Being primarily a tech company, FoodHero worked on an algorithm within the application that allows the consumer to see the amount of emissions that were prevented through their cumulative orders and the kilograms of food waste saved. “The consumer can actually see their impact,” explained Laflamme. “This allows for them to make sense of what they are doing.”

FoodHero’s primary mission is to reduce food waste in grocery stores, which is currently at around 40 per cent worldwide, according to Laflamme and statistics found on the FoodHero website.

“Our goal is to work with many agents in the food industry,” said Laflamme, referring to producers and distributors. “Currently, we work only with grocery stores, which, in itself, is already a place where there is a huge amount of waste.”

“We are starting off. The statistics are still being accumulated but we are growing,” said Laflamme. “We started off collaborating with one IGA, three months ago, then six, and currently, we have over 100 IGA stores on board and are approaching the 200 mark.”

While the app has only been active for six months, the company has grown exponentially since their debut over the summer, due to a business model developed by the FoodHero team over the course of two years, and will soon be expanding to include Metro grocers.

“It was a very well thought out prototype,” said Laflamme. “It was thoroughly tested because it is a complex idea. Because of this, we are working well, and growing quickly.”

However, FoodHero is not the only player in the game. Flashfood, a similar app by Loblaw Companies Ltd., is currently partnered with 139 Maxi and Provigo locations throughout Quebec.

But what change does FoodHero hope to contribute to the overall problem? “Our objective is to have all our collaborating merchants be zero food waste by 2025,” said Laflamme.

While there is still a lot of work to be done in regards to waste in the food industry, Laflamme said that it is the everyday details, like shopping apps, that will contribute to making a change.

“It’s small steps that will allow for us to have a real impact,” said Laflamme.

More information about FoodHero can be found on their website https://foodhero.com/. Their app is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Graphic by @sundaeghost

How one student uses excess food to help a community at no extra cost

In December 2018, Mahmudul Haque Jishan’s routine late-night departures from work at Arabica Lounge turned into something more. He had noticed the amount of excess food being wasted at the restaurant, and saw an opportunity to improve the living conditions for Montreal’s homeless community.

“I’ve been working at this place since October,” said Jishan. “I saw that there was a lot of food waste, but at the same time, when I’m coming home at night at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., there are still homeless people. I tried one day to give them food and then I went back the next day and asked the same person, ‘Was this food good enough for you?’ They said, ‘Yes.’”

“I tried one day to give them food and then I went back the next day and asked the same person, ‘Was this food good enough for you?’ They said, ‘Yes,’” said Jishan. Photo courtesy of Jishan.

Jishan is from Bangladesh where he says homelessness is a common sight. However, he did not expect it to be the same story in a developed country such as Canada. Additionally, the homeless community in Montreal have to deal with the unbearable and often fatal temperatures during Canada’s harsh winters.

When Jishan first began working at Arabica Lounge near the Sir George Williams campus, he often noticed food that had been wasted by customers. Food was ordered, yet uneaten; such as a small portion of fries, rice, pita, or salad. On his way home, Jishan began to stop by fast food restaurants around campus, namely McDonald’s, Tim Hortons and Burger King along Ste. Catherine St. W. These restaurants also had excess food waste and were willing to give it to him to contribute to his initiative.

“There is a Tim Hortons beside Concordia University that is [open] 24/7 and there are at least five or six people outside of there,” said Jishan. “I have three days of work a week and after every night I go, there are still people there.”

Jishan soon noticed the same faces waiting outside the Tim Hortons and continued to give them leftover food. He started to categorize the food into plastic bags and would leave his shifts with enough to feed at least four people. It was not long until others around him began to take notice.

Mahmudul Haque Jishan is pursuing his master’s in engineering at Concordia. Photo courtesy of Jishan.

“The people I work with at the restaurant, my colleagues who are also students, have asked what I was doing and they said ‘Okay, we will do it too.’ I asked my manager ‘Can I do this?’ They said they won’t get involved but they’ll allow me to do it, no problem,” said Jishan.

Jishan hopes that, as he continues his initiative, other restaurants will take notice. Restaurants willing to give their leftovers to the homeless benefit their community at no extra cost. Jishan says that those he has already helped have never complained about receiving wasted food and have always accepted it graciously. He is adamant that if restaurant workers consciously try to conserve food waste during their shift, they could always leave with enough to feed a few mouths.

“I have just started my master’s in engineering,” said Jishan, “and many of the students here are working at different restaurants so we want to make a formal organization where each of us wants to contribute.”

After graduating, Jishan wants to use the connections he has made in school to start an organization that will tackle this issue efficiently. In the meantime, he hopes his story will inspire more people and restaurants to create change. Companies can contribute to a cause that will drastically improve the quality of life for those who are less fortunate without spending a dime. They simply have to start.

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins