How Upside Rescued 1 Million Pounds of Food

Grocery retailers can use fintech company's platform in fight against food waste

8/31/2023

Tech company Upside shares deals with consumers while also making food distribution more efficient.

Upside has upped its efforts to curb food waste. The Washington, D.C.-based tech company formerly known as GetUpside announced that it has teamed up with food retailers, consumers and nonprofit groups to rescue more than a million pounds of food.

The milestone was achieved in part by Upside’s financial support of Food Rescue US and MEANS Database, organizations that work to salvage food otherwise bound for waste streams. “Through this partnership with Upside, we have been able to redistribute over 394,600 pounds of food to people across the country this year, while simultaneously preventing 677,691 pounds of carbon from being emitted,” reported Sammie Paul, executive director of MEANS Database.

Added Dave Lampert, CEO of Food Rescue US: “Upside has been instrumental in advancing our mission to create a more sustainable future, where everyone has access to nutritious food. Their support has been invaluable for our food recovery work. With their help, we’ve been able to expand into 42 locations across 24 states and D.C.”

In addition to directly donating to food rescue groups, Upside offers a platform that optimizes the food supply by enabling retailers to more efficiently distribute perishable foods. Also improving sustainability, the company calculates that it has offset more than 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions linked to fuel purchases made through its platform.

“Making commerce more efficient shouldn't just be about people and businesses. We also need to think about the bigger picture, like the impact on food waste. At Upside, we're proud to not only connect retailers with local consumers, but also to make meaningful progress in reducing the environmental impact of the food sector,” explained Upside VP Tyler Renaghan.

Upside continues to refine and improve its own technology. The fintech business shared that it will soon introduce item-level promotions to help grocers move set-to-expire products even faster.

Earlier this month, Upside announced that it expanded its partnership with c-store and fuel chain Kum & Go to cash back promotions at more than 200 locations in that network. In addition to its recent food waste milestone, the company reported in July that it had surpassed the $1 billion mark in new incremental profit for its retail partners, which include grocery operations like Schnucks, Gelson’s and Price Chopper, among others.