Helsinki uses smart apps to combat food waste
200 restaurants around Finland now sell their leftovers at discount rates - instead of just dumping them at the end of the day.
2879 ViewsThanks to a growing online service called ResQ Club, some 200 restaurants around Finland (around half of them in the Helsinki region) now sell their leftovers at discount rates – instead of just dumping them at the end of the day.
With the help of GPS and a data connection, the app shows the user’s location and displays which participating restaurants and hotels nearby are offering discounted goodies. The application is available for both Android and iOS devices but there is a desktop version as well – which could attract customers without access to a pricey smartphone. Once customers locate a meal they want to buy, after a few clicks and payment, they’re able to head to the restaurant to pick it up.
ResQ is busiest when restaurants and cafés are cleaning up after their breakfast or lunch service when offers begin to pop up on the map in earnest. To date, over 125,000 meals have been ResQ’d from over 400 restaurants since January 2016, amounting to over 40,000 kilograms of food saved. That’s the equivalent of CO2 emissions from driving 5,000,000 kilometres!
To find out more about the initiative, click here.
