App Cutting Food Waste

More than 250 Australian businesses have signed up to use an app that enables restaurants and cafes to either sell their surplus food or donate it to partner food charities in real time.

THE YUME APP, a digital food-rescue tool that connects members of the community with surplus or unsold food, was showcased at a corporate breakfast in Melbourne this week.

Created by Katy Barfield, the app helps reduce food waste by allowing consumers to buy surplus food from top cafes and restaurants for half the usual price.

As the founding CEO of food rescue organisation SecondBite and founder of Australia’s first social wholesale fruit and veg business, Spade & Barrow, Barfield said she was determined to find a way to let everyone be part of the solution.

“Australia generates a vast amount of food waste and we must find ways to reduce this,” Barfield said.

“If every café in Australia reduced the amount of food they throw out by 1kg every day, Australia would save 40 tonnes of food from going to landfill every day.

“With YUME, we all win. Food outlets win. Community food programs win. The people that community food programs feed win. The planet wins. And of course, you win. You not only save a few dollars, you also do good with every dish you rescue.”

Sustainability Victoria brought together key partners to the table to raise awareness and talk about how to solve the food waste problem as part of the Love Food, Hate Waste – don’t let great taste go to waste breakfast.

CEO of Sustainability Victoria, Stan Krpan, said Victorian households wasted around $2,200 worth of food per year, including 64,500 tonnes of bread, pastries and biscuits.

“Research by Sustainability Victoria found that 25 per cent of household waste is made up of avoidable food waste,” Krpan said.

“Through the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, we want to create more awareness of this issue to help households save money and make smarter choices with their cooking and leftovers.”