site.btaUPDATED Reducing Food Waste Cuts Down Harmful Emissions, Waste of Resources

Our goal is to provide a win-win solution by saving food from being thrown away, and helping the planet while reducing the socio-economic damage of food waste, says Jane Dimitrova, one of the creators of FoodObox, a mobile app offering a surprise box that contains high-quality food at an affordable price. She stresses that reducing food waste results in fewer harmful emissions released into the atmosphere and fewer wasted resources for food production. 

The service does not provide delivery, and there is no advertising. The idea is to sell the food left at stores and restaurants at a discount instead of throwing it away, says the co-founder of FoodObox.

According to her, when the first businesses joined, the word was slowly spreading that this is how you can actually reduce costs, reach new customers, and optimize production. And when a more well-known business brand joins, it definitely increases the interest of others, Dimitrova says. 

The brand’s main message to businesses is that they don't lose anything from selling with them. FoodObox is an option on days when there really is a surplus and food would be otherwise thrown away. There is no commitment to sell every day. “We don't want them to sell to make a profit, we want them to rescue food and us to help them do that," Dimitrova adds. 

The company currently has over 430 business partners in Bulgaria - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and Ruse. Most recently, on December 1, the company also launched in Bucharest, Romania with 15 partner locations. Dimitrova says that interest is growing and the company is putting in the effort, with participation in live events, and organization of seminars with a focus on food waste, mostly to help people realize the problem and how serious it is.

In terms of households, she explains that they do not currently offer the opportunity for the household itself to offer leftover food on the platform, as purely regulatory they are not allowed to. But she stresses that they try to constantly publish on their blog guides, zero-waste recipes, tips that are very basic, but if people applied them, they would significantly reduce the amount of food wasted in their homes.