Food Loop: The Ground-breaking New App from The No Food Wasted Forum Connecting Businesses in a Bid to Reduce Food Waste
Are you an ethical food and drink business based in Kent? A new app from the No Food Wasted Forum is seeking funding and support from food and drink businesses to revolutionise food waste in the county.
The No Food Wasted Forum, a Produced in Kent forum set up to reduce food waste and create greater access to good food, is thrilled to announce the launch of an amazing new business-to-business app: Food Loop, which will be a game-changer for reducing food waste in Kent.
Could you be a Food Loop Champion?
If you run a food and drink business in Kent and deal with surplus food, why not consider leading the way and become one of 60 Food Loop champions needed to support the campaign by pledging £500. In turn, you will be able to list your services on the app for free as a lifelong member and display the app’s logo proudly throughout your business.
Produced in Kent is running a crowdfunding campaign on behalf of No Food Wasted to raise funds to support the running of the app for a 12-month pilot period and is searching for Food Loop Champions to make this happen.
“This is a chance for the county’s growers, producers, butchers, farmers and shops, restaurants and pubs to further reduce food waste and get food to those who need it. We need everyone to come together and get involved, support the app and redistribute their surplus food at the same time. It’s also a great way to act on and feed into your business’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy.” comments Chief Executive of Produced in Kent Floortje Hoette.
“A staggering 6.4 million tonnes (mt) of edible food is wasted in the UK every year” Hoette continues. “That food could be used to make the equivalent of over 15 billion meals. Enough to feed the entire UK population 3 meals a day for 11 weeks[1]. Of that 6.4mt, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has estimated that 1.6mt of food waste is generated from primary production”.
Food Loop will enable redistribution and give more people access to a greater variety of good food. Surplus food can be made into a new product, re-sold, or donated to those in need through the app.
An app for local food businesses
Food Loop is the first B2B app of its kind and differs from existing food exchange apps including OLIO or Too Good to Go – which work on a business to consumer (B2C), or consumer to consumer(C2C) model, dealing mostly with smaller quantities, often prepared food, and have a focus on retail and hospitality outlets in urban areas servicing urban customers or community initiatives.
Food Loop, on the other hand, connects businesses with businesses introducing suppliers of surplus food across the food chain – growers, producers, retail, and hospitality, as well as community initiatives who are dealing with a surplus in donated foodstuffs – operating in urban and rural areas. It encourages suppliers to be a Force for Good and redistribute a larger part of their food surplus, thus creating a sense of community.
Produced in Kent and Too Good to Go are in talks about working together, reducing food waste in Kent, and promoting each other’s complementary activities in this area.
Registration on the app is free during the 12-month pilot period and lifelong membership is free for Food Loop champions. Data collected at the backend of the app will give insight into the volume of food waste being upcycled, redistributed, and recycled in Kent.
The crowdfunding campaign hopes to build a community of Food Loop Champions – businesses, charities, local government representatives, and individuals who want to be ambassadors for the app and contribute to its development and pilot trial. In exchange for £500, donors get lifelong usage of the app and can call themselves Food Loop champions.
If you are keen to contribute to a solution that helps to redistribute food waste in Kent, become a Food Loop champion today. Visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/food-loop to pledge £500, become a champion, and take an active role in reducing food waste.
