Tops expands Flashfood partnership after after saving $2.4M from grocery bills

Tops Friendly Markets is expanding its program with Flashfood to 18 additional Rochester-area stores. The latest expansion of the Flashfood program, a digital marketplace that provides shoppers with access to heavily discounted food nearing its best-by date, 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 1 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 of 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. More than 2.5 million users have turned to Flashfood as a way to save up to 60 percent 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, NY.