App offering discounted cafe food launches in Rotorua

Local eateries partnering with Foodprint app to give consumers access to ready-to-eat salads, sandwiches, cakes, sushi, and more at discounted prices. Photo / Supplied

Ever wondered what happens to those goodies sitting in your local cafe’s cabinet at the end of the day?

More often than not they’re thrown away, like a huge volume of food in Rotorua. Waste audits show food and garden organics make up about 55% of household waste.

Launched in Rotorua on Tuesday, Foodprint is an award-winning app that helps more than 400 New Zealand eateries to divert food from landfill and minimise waste.

Founded in 2019, it allows hospitality and food retailers to sell leftover or imperfect food to local residents at a discounted price.

Michal Garvey, Foodprint founder and CEO. Photo / Supplied

Michal Garvey, Foodprint founder and chief executive, said launching in Rotorua came after months of work.

“We love the way that smaller communities have already embraced Foodprint and can already see that Rotorua is doing the same.”

Garvey said around 20 Rotorua eateries were part of the launch, including Lime Cafe, Pantry d’Or, Guidough’s, Rotorua Fresh, Sushi Gallery, and Brown Owl Organics.

From salads and sandwiches to cakes and sushi, all food sold via the app was ready to buy, safe to eat, and of a quality eateries would otherwise sell in-store.

Foodprint launches in Rotorua partnering with eateries to reduce food waste. Photo / Supplied

A spokesperson from Pantry d’Or said Foodprint offered the bakery a way to reduce daily food waste and reach more customers.

“On average, we might end up discarding about 5% of our daily inventory.

“This typically includes baked goods and ready-to-eat items that don’t hold up well overnight.

“With the app, we’ll be able to offer unsold items like our daily bread and other baked goods at a discounted price, ensuring they find a home rather than going to waste.”

Once Foodprint has been downloaded, customers can receive notifications from eateries letting them know when food is available to collect before closing, with discounts ranging from 30-90% off the original price.

Craig Goodwin, Rotorua Lakes Council waste and climate change manager. Photo / Rotorua Lakes Council

Craig Goodwin, Rotorua Lakes Council waste and climate manager said the council was committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, to protect the environment.

“The average Kiwi family throws away three shopping trolleys worth of edible food each year.

“We let the businesses work out what works best for them, and let them make their own commercial arrangements to manage their waste.

“So any initiative that helps reduce the amount of food waste from the hospitality and food sector is a welcome contribution from our district,” Goodwin said.

A Foodprint ad promises consumers can save their pockets and help the planet. Graphic / Supplied

Rabobank’s 2023 Food Waste Survey showed the overall value of food waste continued to rise, now totalling $3.2 billion per annum.

Kate Fenwick from Waste-ed(ucation) with Kate, said there was not endless space to put it.

“When food waste is in landfall, it doesn’t compost or break down it literally just dries out, mummifies, creates some methane in the process, and then it’s there forever.”

“A lot of resources are used to grow or create food and then for us to not eat it and throw it away is actually not only a waste of money, but it’s not great for the environment,” Fenwick said.

The Foodprint app is available for download.

Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.