Food rescue app expands network of stores to Western Canada

A software application that partners with grocery stores to sell food items nearing the end of their lives at half their price has expanded across the country, bringing 39 shops in Calgary to its network.

FoodHero, based in Montreal, has partnered with grocery company Empire — which operates several chains, including Safeway, Sobeys and IGA — to double the number of stores under its belt, with services now accessible in every province and territory.

The application’s software is connected to the store’s inventory systems, through which items on the verge of expiring or that need replacing by newer stock are selected based on freshness audits, said FoodHero CEO Jonathan Defoy.

The products sold in the app are usually costlier items, such as meats, prepared meals, dairy and fish.

FoodHero, founded in 2019, isn’t the only application selling such items. Apps such as Too Good To Go and Flashfood also provide similar services. Their growth comes as people increasingly find it harder to afford food, while many unsold products are dumped to make way for newer stock.

Food bank visits in Alberta have increased by more than 94.1 per cent between 2019 and 2023, according to non-profit research group Vibrant Communities. One in five Calgarians cannot afford healthy food. Seventy per cent of Albertans, surveyed by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab in 2023, said they were worried that by compromising on their nutrition they’re ruining their health.

Meanwhile, Canada’s grocers and food retailers waste about 50 million tonnes of food every year, most of it perishables such as meat and produce.

Defoy said he conceived of the idea while watching a documentary on food wastage. “I saw the the vision very clearly,” said Defoy, who at the time was in the process of selling his former company which sold a “productivity” software for businesses.

“I got the name almost instantly as well.”

He said he had intended to expand beyond Quebec, but his plans were foiled by the pandemic, which pulled the grocers’s attention away from business development and into complying with myriad restrictions.

“We lost 25 per cent of our revenues overnight, literally from March 12 to March 13, 2020.”

However, as people grappled with problems of affordability, the demand for FoodHero’s services picked up.

Defoy brushed off any concerns about health risks from products the app sells, saying the items are always sold before their expiry date, and if customers found anything wrong with them, they could seek a refund by calling customer service.

“But it’s really, really, really, really rare that we have issues with the food and, we’ve never got to the point where someone was sick or anything serious like that,” Defoy said.