Singapore online grocery store Pandamart by Foodpanda has teamed up with community-sharing app Olio to redistribute unsold food and help minimise food waste in the country.
“While we try our best to ensure that the supply we procure at Pandamart coincides with our customers’ demand, we will inevitably have excess food that will not get sold,” said Laura Kantor, marketing and sustainability director, Foodpanda.
“Instead of throwing them away, we can reduce food waste by redistributing them, and our partnership with Olio allows us to easily and efficiently do so.”
Olio’s “Food Waste Hero” volunteers will collect the surplus food on scheduled dates and upload details onto the app, then redistribute it to households and community groups in need.
The surplus food to be given away includes perishables near their expiry and canned goods with minor packaging defects.
Since launching last year in Whampoa, more than 100,000 individuals have participated in the initiative by sharing food and non-food (for example, furniture, school supplies, or clothing) to counter the “throwaway culture” and promote a positive sharing culture.
The partnership has effectively redistributed an estimated 400kg of food, equivalent to over 900 meals to 180 local families.
Users are encouraged to be considerate and ensure food items given away are still in proper condition for consumption. According to the sharing app, half of all food listings are collected within half an hour.
Food waste accounts for around 11 per cent of total waste in the country – producing over 660,000 tonnes in 2020. With this partnership, the two companies aim to support the country’s Zero Waste Master Plan and prevent still edible food from ending up in landfills.
“Singaporeans are eager to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle, and the traction we’ve seen from the trial with Pandamart is a great testament to that,” said Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO, Olio.
The initiative was recently extended to two more Pandamart outlets at Bukit Batok and Tampines and will include all 15 marts by the end of this year.
