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SURPLUS FOOD

Good food.Going nowhere.Until now.

making sure every meal finds a home

LET'S START HERE

Surplus food is not waste.
Not yet.

Surplus food is any perfectly good food that goes unsold by the end of the day — at a bakery, a restaurant, a supermarket or a café. It hasn't expired. It isn't unsafe. It just... has nowhere to go. Without a solution, it ends up in a bin. With Refreshi, it ends up on your table — at up to 50% off.

Bread & Pastries
Prepared Meals
Good Produce
Drinks & Snacks
Deli & Ready Meals
Forecourt Food
Sweet Treats
FMCG & Grocery
Canned & Preserved Goods
Kitchen Staples

THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM

The numbers are staggering.

10%

of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste. More than 2.5× the entire aviation industry.

828M

people go hungry every day — while 2.5 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally every year.

$1.2T

lost globally each year from wasted food. In South Africa alone, that's an estimated R60 billion annually.

Source: WWF-SA, Project Drawdown, FAO

0M+

Tonnes of food wasted in SA every year

0%

Of all food produced in SA goes to waste

0M

South Africans go to bed hungry every night

South Africa has a food problem. We have a fix.

WHERE IT HAPPENS

Surplus food lives here
in the supply chain.

Food is lost at every stage of the supply chain. But at the retail and distribution level — restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets and cafés — the food is already prepared, packaged and ready. That's exactly where Refreshi steps in.

See exactly how Refreshi turns that surplus into Surprise Bags on our How It Works page.

8%

Production

19%

Harvest

49%

Processing & Wholesale

6%

Retail & Distribution

18%

Home

Let's change that.

WITHOUT A SOLUTION

It ends up in a landfill.

When surplus food hits landfill, it doesn't just disappear. It breaks down and releases methane — a greenhouse gas 80× more potent than CO₂ over 20 years. Every bag of surplus food rescued is a direct climate action. Not a small one.

Food waste generates 8–10% of global greenhouse gases

Reducing food waste is the #1 climate action (Project Drawdown)

South Africa wastes ±R60 billion worth of food every year

Refreshi is the answer.

Refreshi app showing nearby Surprise Bags available for collection

GOOD QUESTION

Is surplus food actually safe?

Short answer: yes. Here's why.

It's still good food.

Surplus food is collected and sold on the same day. It meets all food safety standards — it just didn't sell before closing time.

Stores are vetted.

Every Refreshi partner store follows our Food Safety Guidelines. We don't list stores that don't meet the standard.

You're in control.

You choose your store, your collection window, and your category preference. Every bag comes with store details and allergen info.

Read our Food Safety Guidelines →

FoodForward SA
FoodForward SA

Our official sustainability partner

Fighting hunger, together.

Refreshi is proud to partner with FoodForward SA — South Africa's largest food bank. Together, we're redirecting surplus food from landfills to the communities that need it most.

Donate to FoodForward SA

Ready to turn your surplus
into revenue?

Get your first
bag today.

refresh. revive. reduce.

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Refreshi app showing nearby Surprise Bags available for collection

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