Tops Friendly Markets Expands Flashfood Program to 18 New York Store Locations After Saving Shoppers $2.4 Million on Groceries

The expansion will accelerate the partnership's food waste reduction impact to hit one million pounds of food waste saved this year and feed more families affordably

ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tops Friendly Markets, a leading full-service grocery retailer in New York, northern Pennsylvania, and Vermont, today announced the company is expanding its program with Flashfood, a digital marketplace that provides shoppers with access to heavily discounted food nearing its best-by date, to 18 additional Rochester-area stores. The latest expansion of the Flashfood program brings the total number of Tops stores offering Flashfood to 68 across Western New York.

Since Tops first introduced the Flashfood program to six stores in August 2020 and later 44 additional locations throughout 2021, Tops and Flashfood have saved shoppers more than $2.4 million on their grocery bills and diverted 985,358 pounds of food from reaching the landfill. The food saved amounts to over 350,000 family meals, and the emissions saved from diverting food from the landfill are equivalent to over one million miles driven by the average passenger vehicle. With this latest expansion, Tops and Flashfood expect to hit one million pounds of food waste saved in the coming weeks.

"Part of Tops' core mission is eradicating hunger and Flashfood is an innovative tool that allows us to provide quality product at a discounted price helping with the bottom line, all while diverting it from landfills," said Jeff Culhane, Senior Vice President, Merchandising for Tops Friendly Markets. "After expanding the program to 50 stores, we are thrilled to grow our footprint with Flashfood even further in the Rochester market to help more Tops shoppers save on groceries and continue our mission of reducing our carbon footprint."

With continued inflation challenges, food insecurity continues to impact families across North America, especially families in New York, where one in seven children face hunger (Feeding America). More than 2.5 million users have turned to Flashfood as a way to save up to 60% off high-quality items nearing their best-by date, such as meats, dairy, seafood, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Shoppers conveniently browse and buy discounted food items directly through the Flashfood app on their mobile phone, and then simply pick up their order from the Flashfood Zone located inside their participating local Tops Friendly Market store.

The latest Tops Friendly Markets and Flashfood expansion will include five new Rochester locations and new participating locations in Albion, Avon, Canandaigua, Farmington, Greece, Hamlin, Henrietta, Hilton, Irondequoit, Ontario, Spencerport, Walworth, and Waterloo, New York. For all new and existing Tops Friendly Markets locations partnering with Flashfood, and to find a location near you, visit flashfood.com/locations/home.          

"It's exciting when we can expand our presence with leading retail partners like Tops Friendly Markets," said Josh Domingues, Founder and CEO, Flashfood. "To expand our partnership for a second time demonstrates not only Tops Friendly Markets' commitment to sustainability, but our ability to make an impact for both shoppers and the planet. Together, we look forward to bringing even more grocery deals to New York families."

To learn more about Flashfood, visit flashfood.com. To learn more about Tops' sustainability commitments visit topsmarkets.com/sustainability/.

About Flashfood
Flashfood is an app-based marketplace striving to eliminate retail food waste by connecting consumers with discounted food nearing its best-by date. The mobile app operates in over 1,600 grocery locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Shoppers can buy items from grocery retailers through the Flashfood app and pick them up in-store at great prices while collectively reducing food waste. To date, Flashfood has diverted over 65 million pounds of food, saved shoppers over $175 million and more affordably fed hundreds of thousands of families. Flashfood is currently working with The GIANT Company, Meijer, Tops Friendly Markets, Loblaw, Martin's Markets, VG's, Family Fare, Ren's Pets, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Save A Lot and Giant Eagle. Flashfood is a free app available on iOS and Android. For more information, please visit www.flashfood.com.

About Tops Friendly Markets
Based in Williamsville, NY, Tops Markets currently operates 149 grocery stores in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, including five that are run by franchisees. As the largest private, for-profit employer in Western New York, with over 14,000 associates, the company is dedicated to providing sustainably sourced, high-quality products, while helping its communities flourish via support for programs that eradicate hunger and disease, educate youth and reduce environmental waste and energy consumption. For more information, visit www.topsmarkets.com.

Media Contact:
Marika Kelly
For Flashfood
[email protected]

SOURCE Flashfood