Dive Brief:
- Three developers have created an app that locates leftover food for budget-conscious and environmentally-aware consumers. "PareUp" allows consumers to locate excess food at stores. Retailers list perishable items, which are sold at a discounted rate before it spoils.
- According to Liberty Voice, PareUp operates like an "online clearinghouse." Via the app, customers can check out the food selection offered by shops daily, then purchase it at the store like any other item.
- PareUp is expected to be available to consumers by the end of the summer in 2014.
Dive Insight:
The app was created as an effort to reduce the volume of waste entering landfills. The creators of the app will receive a percentage of each sale.
Apps are increasingly becoming a way to deal with the high volumes of food that fills the waste stream. Another new leftover food-sharing app, Ratatouille, connects consumers looking for produce with people seeking to give extra food away.