Foodbank Teams Up With Meal Matchmaker App

Leftover food from cafes and restaurants across Australia will soon be used to feed people in need, thanks to a collaboration between Foodbank and a social enterprise app.   

Foodbank’s partnership with social enterprise Y Waste aims to reduce food waste by targeting the estimated 23 per cent of food purchased by Australian businesses that ends up in the bin.

Y Waste allows people to use their smartphones to find and buy discounted food that hasn’t been sold at the end of each trading day.

The app already has more than 500 registered outlets nationally – including Sumo Salad, Sushi Hub, Roll’d and Muffin Break.

The success of the app led many food merchants to call for food to be offered to vulnerable people in their communities for free.

Foodbank was then approached by Y Waste to help create a way for local charities to give people in need access to free meals through the app.

Y Waste founder Ian Price said the interest from food merchants to develop this idea had been overwhelming.

“90 per cent of the food outlets we’ve spoken to want to donate meals in their communities and the indication is that over half of all the meals being offered through Y Waste will end up with people who can’t afford to buy them,” Price said.

Those in need will be able to sign up to the Y Waste app using a special code with the help of a local Foodbank-registered charity

People can then select their choice of free meals on the app and collect it from the food outlet by showing a voucher on their smartphone.

Foodbank Australia CEO Brianna Casey said Y Waste’s technology was extremely useful for the sector.

“Accessing the short-life prepared food generated by cafes and quick serve restaurants has always been logistically challenging for the food rescue sector,” Casey said.

“Y Waste removes the barriers and enables the meals to go straight into the hands of people who need them.

“Not only is the food fresh and high quality but there is plenty of variety, giving food insecure people choice and dignity in obtaining the help they need to feed themselves and their families.”

Y Waste will progressively roll out the availability of these free meals across Australia in 2019.