This App Lets You Buy Groceries With Damaged Packaging for Half the Price

I have a passion for scoring cheap groceries, having explored whether Trader Joe's is actually cheaper and tallying how much you'll save shopping at Costco or switch to store brand groceries.

I also have somewhat of a passion for rescuing food destined for the trash, having tested a slew of delivery services and apps that promise to do that, such as Misfits Market, Thrive Market and Too Good to Go.

In the Venn diagram that represents my enthusiasm for discount groceries and sparing food from the trash, Flashfood is a perfect circle. Founded in 2016 and now available across the US and in Canada, Flashfood is the app I've been waiting for: one that allows you to rescue heavily discounted food from your local supermarket while you shop for other groceries. 

I tried it and saved roughly 50% on a haul of Stop and Shop groceries. Here's everything you need to know about Flashfood before you download and get shopping.

Snapshot of Flashfood

Service: App for rescuing almost-expired food from local grocery retailers. Account registration is required, but there is no subscription fee. Partners: Flashfood retailers across the country include Dash Mart, Piggly Wiggly, Meijier, Stop and Shop, Food Lion and others. Regional availability: Continental US and Canada. Cost: No fee to join. Available products are discounted at 50%. A small service fee of 5%, up to a maximum fee of $2.99, is added to each order.

Flashfood is an app that lets you shop discounted groceries that would otherwise be tossed due to packaging damage or looming expiration dates.

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What is Flashfood?

An app for purchasing discounted groceries that may be destined for the trash, Flashfood was founded in 2016 by Josh Domingue to curb the tremendous amount of waste generated by food retail businesses, one the biggest contributors to the problem. According to data from Recycle Track Systems, US grocery retail locations account for 16 billion pounds of food waste per year.

Flashfood partners with specific grocery stores to allow them to sell food that is nearing its expiration date or heavily damaged items at a deep discount to consumers.

How does Flashfood work?

Flashfood doesn't require a subscription, but consumers must download the app and create an account. A simple map feature shows you what stores in your area participate in Flashfood, and you can browse the available inventory. 

The app shows items with both their original and discounted prices.

Flashfood/Screenshot by CNET

Each item's original price is shown in the app, as well as the 50% discounted price, and its expiration date is also indicated. Every item is listed individually for inventory purposes, so you might see multiple listings for the same item.

Flashfood shoppers can simply add items to their cart, then pay for those items in the app. Your order must be picked up in the store, ideally on the same day as you purchase it, but at latest before the expiration date of the items you chose. Flashfood collects a 5% service fee per order, up to $3, for its operating costs.

Flashfood cupboards and fridges are located near checkout. A manager helped me find my purchases.

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Rescue deeply discounted food while you shop

The best part about Flashfood is that you can browse what's available on the app while you shop in the store, making it a one-stop shopping experience. If you're making the journey already, you might find that a number of things on your list are available in the store's Flashfood inventory. This is a departure from several other food rescue platforms that may offer a huge selection of rescued items on their website for national delivery but that don't represent every aisle in the grocery store. It's not a one-stop shop situation. Flashfood potentially is.

Here's what $60 of groceries for $30 looks like. 

Pamela Vachon/CNET

There's a lot of talk about the rising cost of groceries, and so a 50% discount that Flashfood offers is really something to consider. I got quite a haul for about $30: four different proteins, generously portioned, nearing their expiration date but ready to go right in the freezer, including salmon, chicken wingettes, pork chops and Italian sausage. 

Produce bags are listed, labelled and set aside for pickup.

Pamela Vachon/CNET

A couple of pantry items merely had box damage -- the kind you'd definitely pass over if they were sitting on the shelves, but offered at a 50% discount, snagging them was a no-brainer. (My 1990s Midwestern sensibility that believes all cereal should cost no more than $3 was satisfied.) 

A bagful of fruit had some mild discoloration, but that was it, and a few pounds of apples, pears, oranges and clementines were offered as a miscellaneous produce bag for $5. This wasn't a guessing game or mystery bag situation -- the photograph on the app showed exactly what I was getting. 

The Stop and Shop where I purchased my order also had full bakery cakes half off. I couldn't justify it for my one-person household, but boy I was tempted. 

A little box damage is well worth the 50% discount. 

Pamela Vachon/CNET

Pickup rescued items in store before their expiration dates

The pickup process for my Flashfood order was simple -- well-marked Flashfood cupboards and fridges were located near the checkout, and a manager checked my order and handed me the specific items I purchased. Having brought my own grocery bag, it was another element of waste eliminated by the process, and I was picking up my order within an hour of having purchased it. Some retailers may package your order ahead of time, but because the Flashfood inventory isn't bottomless at any given retailer, it was a quick process to find each of my items when I arrived.

Flashfood recommends picking up your order on the same day as you purchased it, but so long as you pick up before the expiration date of your chosen items, it doesn't have to be immediate.

You'll see the expiration dates before you commit. 

Flashfood/Screenshot by CNET

Who is Flashfood good for?

If you regularly shop at one of the major retailers that Flashfood partners with, such as Piggly Wiggly, Meijier or Stop and Shop, for example, then this is a can't lose situation. Since there's no membership or commitment involved at all, you may as well download the app and see what's available in your store. You may find yourself leaving with some extra cash than you would normally.

Flashfood helps you track your savings. 

Flashfood/Screenshot by CNET

Who is Flashfood not good for?

Flashfood has about 2,000 retail locations in the US and Canada. That said, if one of them isn't near you, then Flashfood won't do you any good just yet. (The app is currently developing a way for consumers to request Flashfood in their specific markets, however.) There's currently no delivery mechanism for Flashfood, so you must pick it up in store. If you rely heavily on delivery services such as Instacart or Door Dash, or even businesses like Misfits Market or Thrive Market that ship nationally, then Flashfood may not be a practical solution.

Final verdict on Flashfood

Flashfood, to me, is the most useful solution I've yet seen when it comes to finding inexpensive groceries while saving food that may otherwise be destined for the trash. I truly would encourage anyone to download the simple app and see what's nearby. I went 40 minutes out of my way to get to a grocery store that partners with Flashfood, but having done it, I'd totally do it again.

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