Japanese services and apps to tackle food waste in 2023

Too often, food is thrown away when it could originally have been eaten. Reducing such food waste is one of the major social issues today. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, approximately 5.23 million tons of food waste was generated in 2021 in Japan, which is equivalent to each citizen throwing away a bowlful of rice every day. To tackle this issue, in Japan, “Food Loss Reduction Promotion Act” was established in 2019.

About half of the problematic food waste is generated by businesses, including restaurants and retailers. These food wastes occur for various reasons, including weather, the impact of surrounding events, cancelled reservations, ordering errors and maintaining product assortments. On the other hand, the other half of waste from households includes the leftover food, excessive removals of edible parts, and the discard of unused food products. Luckily, we have these services tackling the problem in an innovative approach.

Services helping producers solve food waste

KURADASHI

In Japan, there has been a traditional commercial custom called “one-third rule” for food producers. This rule means if one-third of the time before the best-before date of the products have passed, the products can no longer be accepted by retailers. This causes some products to be discarded even though they are still edible.

KURADASHI, a B Corporation certified in 2022, is working to solve this type of food waste in a sustainable manner, as well as that caused by other reasons, such as seasonal packaging. Products that might otherwise become food waste due to a variety of reasons are offered for sale at a sponsored price by manufacturers who support food waste reduction efforts.

Consumers can purchase products on the e-commerce site for up to higher than 90% off the list price. A portion of the profits is then donated to NPOs and other social contribution organizations. In this way, users save money on their purchases, and in addition to reducing food waste, they can make a casual contribution to society.

Start your action today by shopping with KURADASHI.

LET

LET is a marketplace for buying and selling “translated products” such as excess inventory, discontinued products, special items, B-grade products and substandard products. Anyone can download the app in as little as one minute and start listing “reasonableness” items. As of September 2023, the number of users has exceeded five million.

Unlike new and used products, this service creates a new market that matches people who want to dispose of new products that cannot be sold through normal sales channels with those who want to buy them at a discount. Start your action by downloading the LET app through App Store or Google Play for free. (in Japanese)

TABETE

TABETE is a platform that connects “eaters” with meals that are still delicious and safe to eat but are in danger of being discarded, such as when the store is about to close, to support the final sale. Once you’ve purchased your favorite products from the store where you received your rescue request, all you have to do is go to the store at the designated time, show the app screen, and you’re done! There is no registration or monthly fee for users (eaters). As of September 2023, 750,000 users and over 2,500 restaurants have registered to the service (cumulative).

Restaurants and retailers can list meals in danger of being discarded, starting with a single item. According to a survey in 2022, more than 88% of restaurants and retailers that have adopted TABETE have found it effective in reducing food waste. Start your action by downloading the TABETE app through App Store or Google Play for free. (in Japanese)

WakeAi

WakeAi is another market-style platform, where you can enjoy shopping local specialties all around Japan with reasonable prices. How fantastic! But how does the system work?

The platform sells food that the best-before date is approaching, and some of their products are purchased from sponsor companies and producers who sympathized with the platform’s vision, which are the reasons for the good prices.

The business has started with the purpose of supporting food producers and companies affected by the pandemic. Now, under their vision of becoming the infrastructure of food supplies and social good activities in Japan, the business is offering the opportunities for customers to contributes to the sustainable society, the accessibilities to food for those who are in need of a food supply (e.g. single parent families) through their food bank activities. Let’s explore their offerings and make a contribution to the food sustainability.

Visit WakeAi (in Japanese) here to see their offers!

Services to reduce household food waste

Limiter

Have you ever let your food expire or bought the same food products despite you still have it left? In Japan, almost a half of food loss is from households’ consumption. Limiter (an application for smartphone) is a great tool for households to reduce not only such loss but also cost and time related to managing food at home.

With this innovative application, there is no need to take time and pay extra attention to manage your food at home. Just by scanning the barcode of a product, the expiration date is automatically put into the database of the application, and you can easily check the information anytime. Let’s manage our food efficiently, by downloading this application from App Store or Google Play (in Japanese).

Pecco

Pecco is another service that is focusing on the problem of food waste in a unique way. By using this application, you can find new recipes that can be made only with the remaining food in your fridge, with the suggestions that take your favorites into account. In addition, the application (AI) supports your management of food in your fridge and their best-before dates, and even the nutrition balance of your diet.

As of September 2023, this service has recorded over 500,000 downloads and been introduced via various media, including Japanese popular TV programs and magazines. The users positive feedback indicates the troubles about how to cook the remaining food in their dairy meal and how helpful this kind of support is, to reduce both food waste and users’ labor. Try a smart way of your dairy cooking with this innovative solution! Pecco is available for download from App Store or Google Play (in Japanese).

Writer’s comment

“Food” is an essential part of our life, and thus, considering sustainable food consumption is critical for the future development of our society. The fact that the half the amount of food waste is from both industry and households seems to mean both businesses and consumers have a room to reconsider our food sustainability. The apps and services I introduced here are contributing the wood waste reduction from both sources. It is definitely worth checking these innovate services and their future updates.