Sometimes, a guilty-pleasure snack from your favorite eatery can feel extra guilty. Maybe it’s because you spent money on a mid-afternoon pick-me-up while putting off your next student loan payment, or maybe you just feel like you’re overindulging when there are others in need.
Moxie Award-winning startup Zero Percent may have a way to cut down on that guilt. The startup, whose mission is to save edible, surplus food from the landfill, is offering new subscription pricing on snacks to support its cause. For $10 per month, SnackPass allows users to get five snacks from local restaurants, including Freshii, Hannah’s Bretzel and Foxtrot.
The establishments agree to donate the snacks, and the entire fee goes toward Zero Percent’s mission of delivering unused food to nonprofits. Each subscription helps offset the cost of about 30 meal deliveries, meaning restaurants won’t have to pay the fee that Zero Percent had been charging to take the food away while still covering the company’s costs.
“Forty percent of the food that gets produced in America does get thrown away, and much of it ends up in landfills, produces greenhouse gases — it's really just terrible for the environment,” said Zero Percent’s Joey Molloy. “All that being said, there's still an estimated one-in-six people that live in a food-insecure space, meaning they don't really know where their next meal is coming from.”
Customers can sign up for the snack plan through the iOS app. Users pick out their snacks from a large menu, then show the cashier (or type in a code at vending options like Farmer’s Fridge) to get their snacks. Those that use up their snack allotment or want to test out the service before subscribing can even buy individual snacks for $3 a piece.
Molloy said that it’s a win for the restaurants, too. Customers are coming in the door and are more likely to buy add-on items like drinks or snacks for friends. Plus, those restaurants are associated with a good cause.
Zero Percent, which is backed by Impact Engine and angel investors, has seen that people have been incorporating their snacks into daily routines since launching the app in December. Now, they’re trying to get more people using the app and more companies offer snacks through the program.
Image via Zero Percent
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