Press Release, 16 June 2022: SecondBite partnership with Yume helps close the loop on manufactured food waste
SecondBite continues to tackle food waste from all angles, ensuring that every opportunity to minimise good food going to landfill is explored. Its partnership with Yume, an Australian-first tech platform that helps manufacturers sell or donate excess food, will provide SecondBite access to more food donations, faster, and ultimately get good food to people who need it.
Major food manufacturers who subscribe to Yume’s platform have the option of selling excess or end-of-run foods to a diverse network of buyers in the food industry. If the food doesn’t sell in a reasonable period of time, the platform prompts the seller to consider donating it instead and requests them to nominate a food charity.
As Yume’s first official Community Partner, SecondBite is proudly leading the way in using the tech innovation to get more food to people in need.
A recent pilot of the donation technology saw SecondBite’s NSW warehouse delivered with more than 11,000 kg of pasta, providing the equivalent of 22,000 meals to Aussies doing it tough.
SecondBite CEO Steve Clifford say the technology is a game changer in helping rescue greater quantities of food.
“We’ve all seen the difference that tech innovations have made to all our lives over the last couple of decades. Being able to rescue food at the click of a button, and retrieve it faster, fresher and in known quantities, helps make our planning and logistics efforts that much easier. Our mission is to reduce food waste and get it to people in need, and this does that for us.”
Yume founder and CEO Katy Barfield says the digitised donation workflows allow food rescue organisations to spend less time chasing donations and get on with doing what they do best – getting good food to people in need.
“It just doesn’t make sense that more than three million tonnes of food is wasted from the commercial sector every year in Australia, when one in six of us are facing hunger or food insecurity. Yume is the link for manufacturers to sell or donate their produce, rather than send it to landfill, and that leads to better outcomes for all of us.”
Manufacturers who have subscribed to Yume include Mars Food, Unilever and General Mills. Mars Food General Manager Bill Heague said, “Yume’s donation technology means that we have been able to streamline and automate our donation process. The platform also gives us more pathways for food donation.
“As a business, we are committed to sending zero food to landfill. Having multiple donation avenues just a click away means we are supporting our local communities and the planet.”