Our home is Toronto, but our impact is global.
We spent our careers in a variety of industries such as management consulting, finance, and emerging technology, however we decided it was time to do something different - something that would create a better world for future generations, while creating affordable access to food to everyone.
It all started with a phone call
Josh’s sister who was a chef called him distraught one night and said “I just threw out $4000 worth of food.” At first Josh laughed and thought it was a joke, but was shocked to discover that the food was from a catered event and a decision was made to throw it all out. This seemed too hard to dismiss as a common everyday occurrence, yet, that was the norm in the food and grocery industries.
Then came the lightbulb!
After months of research, Josh was sitting in his condo which was on top of a grocery store and a light bulb went off in his head. What if he could buy food nearing its best before date at a discount from his phone and pick it up downstairs? He would buy food like that all the time.
In fact, when food gets thrown out, it usually ends up in a landfill, gets covered by other garbage and rots. When this happens, the food doesn't have oxygen and the decomposition process produces methane gas. The statistic that eventually created Flashfood is:
- National Geographic (March 2016)
He went on to speak to hundreds of grocery employees and top level executives in the grocery industry, it was alarming to learn that most food items that were not sold and approaching their best before dates by up to 2 weeks, were simply thrown out!
This is when the idea of Flashfood app was solidified. An app that allows shoppers to browse food items approaching their best before date, buy them at a discount and pick them up in store.
It all started with a phone call
Josh’s sister called him distraught one night “I just threw away $4000 worth of food.” At first Josh laughed and thought it was a joke, but was shocked to discover that the food was from a catered event and a decision was made to throw it all out. This seemed too hard to dismiss as a common everyday occurrence, yet, that was the norm in the food industry including grocery.
Then came the lightbulb!
After months of research, Josh was sitting in his condo which was on top of a grocery store and a light bulb went off in his head. What if he could buy food nearing its best before date at a discount from his phone and pick it up downstairs? He would buy food like that all the time.
In fact, when food gets thrown out, it usually ends up in a landfill, gets covered by other garbage and rots. When this happens, the food doesn't have oxygen and the decomposition process produces methane gas. The statistic that eventually created Flashfood is:
- National Geographic (March 2016)
He went on to speak to hundreds of grocery employees and top level executives in the grocery industry, it was alarming to learn that food items that were not sold and approaching their best before dates by up to 2 weeks, were simply thrown out!
This is when the idea of Flashfood app was solidified. An app that allows shoppers to browse food items approaching their best before date, buy them at a discount and pick them up in store.
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