Rewards will be received for anyone who uses the new EcoBuy app; aimed at minimising food waste in Japan by encouraging consumers to purchase foods close to their use-by date.
Food Navigator Asia reported that the Tokyo metropolitan government is spearheading the trial of the platform, which was recently launched at a Mini Piago supermarket.
To reap rewards from the app, customers will take a photo of an eligible product (one with an EcoBuy sticker on it) and a receipt of their product and upload them to the app. Once the purchase has been confirmed, the customer receives store credits of about 20% of the purchase’s value.
The app can also alert the customer to their looming best-before date and even provide recipes for the products purchased.
Japans Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry estimates food waste in the country at around 6.21 billion tonnes per year. Less than half of this waste occurs in the home, so the main target of the app is food companies and retailers.
“If we can reduce the volume of food waste, the labour cost for disposing of it will also be decreased,” said Terushi Ito, president of 99Ichiba Co. who runs the Mini Piago store.
Companies are becoming conscious of the problem and last year Japanese retail giant, Aeon Co. announced its goal to halve food waste by 2025.
Other Asian countries have also been looking to apps to curb waste with Singapore launching Treatsure, in partnership with 10 different retail merchants.
