APP LAUNCHED TO HELP REDUCE FOOD WASTE

An app that is designed to help reduce food waste while also assisting Australian consumers to save money at the supermarket was launched in July.

Gander, which is considered an Australian-first, connects shoppers with discounted food items nearing their expiration dates, helping to reduce both food waste in-store, and grocery bills.

The team at Gander have partnered with Spanos IGA and Country Grocers to launch the app in Queensland and Victoria.

One of the Gander co-founders, Tim Brown, said retailers typically had to rely on shoppers sporadically finding a markdown in store while doing their shopping.

“Therefore, on average less than half of the food marked down in stores is sold, leaving the rest to
become surplus,” he said.

“For retailers, reduced food can cost them 7 per cent of their turnover.

At a time when margins are being squeezed, this is revenue sitting on their shelves that local shoppers would love to buy, they just don’t know it’s there. ”Mr Brown said the app worked via a one-time integration with the retailer’s point-of-sale system, with the app then showcasing a live and
accurate feed of what’s available in the store.

As soon as a product is stickered with a new markdown label it appears on the Gander app for consumers to browse through and search for.

Similarly, when the item is sold or no longer available it is automatically removed from the app.

“According to recent analysis conducted by UBS, the average Australian grocery bill increased year-on-year by 9.6 per cent,”Mr Brown said. “Gander will provide Australians with access to quality food, ready to be consumed or frozen for a later date, discounted up to 75 per cent in order to save money, while also allowing them to feel they are positively addressing the problem of food wastage.

It’s a win-win.”

Each year the Australian retail sector contributes approximately 286,000 tonnes of food waste
to landfill.

As this waste decomposes it releases methane—a greenhouse gas that is even more potent than carbon dioxide.

Holistically food waste accounts for 3 per cent of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, thus feeding climate change, while one-third of Australian households face food insecurity.

Gander was first launched in the UK in 2019, working with more than 500 stores and saving approximately 25 million food items from going to waste.