How to reduce food waste in Hong Kong: the food-rescue apps that are bringing innovative new ideas to the table
- Hong Kong’s food-waste recovery rate is a mere 4 per cent but a slew of new food-rescue programmes aim to improve that and tackle the city’s culture of waste
- Innovative ideas include mystery boxes of daily leftovers to taking the barley from bakeries’ surplus bread and brewing it into beer
When Carla Martinesi had her Eureka moment about starting a food-rescue service in the summer of 2020, she quit her marketing job – much to her mother’s dismay.
Almost three years on, Chomp has saved thousands of meals from 125 vendors including big names such as Slowood, Flash Coffee, Baked by Shangri-La, Levain Bakery, and The Baker & The Bottleman.
The Chomp app suggests nearby partner venues that offer discounted food. Users pay via the app and pick up in person within a certain time to minimise carbon emissions from deliveries.
On average, the offers are half off the retail price and usually come in mystery boxes – where the merchants tailor the selection based on daily leftovers – though this is left to the vendors’ discretion.
Martinesi’s brainchild is one of nearly 70 food-rescue programmes in Hong Kong – some dating back to the early 2000s. Despite their efforts, 1.3 million tonnes of food, the equivalent of 100,000 double-decker buses, were still disposed of in 2021 – according to the latest statistics from the Environmental Protection Department.
