Too Good To Waste: Refreshi App Is Making Sustainable Eating Fun and Affordable

In South Africa, research suggests that 63.5% of households have inadequate access to food. But food insecurity is more than just a lack of access to food; it’s also a serious threat to longevity, as it can lead to child malnutrition and is linked to increased risk for chronic diseases and mental-health conditions. Ironically, despite the alarmingly high rates of food insecurity, South Africa wastes around 10.3 million tons of food every year. Not only is food waste – which refers to edible, safe, and nutritious food that’s typically discarded or lost – an economic loss for the country, but it also has serious environmental effects.

Refreshi: Redefining Sustainable Eating

Driven by a desire to make a difference, Jakob Holbak, alongside Dineplan co-founders Martin Rose and Greg Whitfield, developed the food app Refreshi, which works to solve both food insecurity and food waste, one surplus meal at a time.

Having come from a shipping background, Holbak sought a career change that would be more impactful.

“On one hand, people are hungry and live on very tight budgets, and on the other hand, a lot of food that hasn’t expired and is perfectly fine to eat is being thrown out, with 30% to 40% of all food produced in South Africa never ending up on a table,” he says.

Refreshi connects consumers with stores, including supermarkets, bakeries, restaurants, hotels, and coffee shops, offering surplus food in “surprise bags”, at less than half the original price. The bags typically feature a variety of baked goods, fresh produce, and deli items.

Environmental metrics

With 175 active stores currently on the app, 15 to 20 joining each week, and representatives on the ground in each major city, Refreshi is producing over 500 surprise bags every day. Also, each surprise bag has a guaranteed value – so you could pay just R60 for food worth R150. None of the food offered is expired, but is rather nearing its sell-by date or hasn’t sold by closing time. In an effort to ensure the quality of the food, Refreshi keeps a close eye on customer ratings, which have an average rating of 4.2, and if they notice a store dropping below three-and-a-half, they retrain them.

“If we still see no improvement, we might take them off the platform,” reveals Holbak.

Aside from providing more economically friendly meals, sustainability remains a core pillar for Refreshi, which is why it provides consumers with an environmental metric of their purchases.

Each metric provides a conservative estimate of how much each purchased surplus meal has reduced landfill waste, CO2 emissions, and water and land usage.

Refreshi also offers a marketing incentive for stores featured.

“It’s basically another sales channel for their surplus food that doesn’t cannibalise their business, because it’s a different brand, a different customer journey, a slightly different price and product,” explains Holbak. “The stores can turn surplus food into extra income with very little effort.”

Originating in Stellenbosch, Refreshi is now active across South Africa, in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and soon Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). With over 80,000 app downloads, it’s currently in the top six to eight most-downloaded food-and-drinks apps in South Africa, in the app stores.

With plans to scale up to other centers, Refreshi continues to drive change, ensuring that every South African can enjoy a decent and healthy meal, without cost to their health, their wallets, or the planet.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Download the app here.
2. Browse nearby stores via a map or list
3. Select a surprise bag, see its price, value, and collection
4. Order and pay
5. Collect in-store during the specified time

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From expert insights with Dr. Zach Bush, Dr. Ash Kapoor, Oscar Chalupsky, Dr. Ela Manga, Dr. Maureen Allem, Dr. Anushka Reddy, Dr. Des Fernandes, Dr. Craige Golding, and many more, this issue explores everything from food, clean beauty, sustainable living, fashion, travel, and other mindful choices.

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Taking to Instagram, functional medicine practitioner and biohacker Richard Game referred to plant-based milks as “highly processed and completely inconsistent evolutionarily for humans.”