As the hospitality sector struggles and consumers feel the pinch from rising living costs, one entrepreneur has devised a solution.
Food waste is still a lingering issue, so Foodprint founder Michal Garvey launched Mystery Bags to help business and consumers get through a gloomy winter period.
Garvey says the viral nature of mystery packages would allow consumers to eat out sustainably - and have fun in the process.
"No two bags are going to be the same...one day, it might be a salad or a muffin, the next day, a pie and a sausage roll. You get that real unboxing experience with your food items."
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk SEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hospitality businesses are struggling, consumers are feeling the pinch with
the cost of living, and food waste is a huge problem. Well,
my next guest has come up with a unique way
to battle all three. Enter the Mystery Bag. They are
the new creation by food Print founder Michael Garvey. Food
Print is an app that partners with local eateies to
sell their leftover food at a discounted prices. You probably
(00:35):
are using them, and mystery Bags are their new offering
to further help both hospitality and consumers. And Michael is
with me. Now, good morning, it's Maria Francisca. Thanks for
having me. How did mystery Bags come about?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, so this is something we've been sort of testing
with our audience for a while. The idea of a
mystery bag something that's been going a little bit viral
over on the old TikTok recently, Okay, and we wanted
to find a way of really simplifying our platform that's
already really easy to use, but making it even easier
for eateries, allowing concer humors to kind of add a
(01:07):
little bit of fun and sustainability into their ability to
eat out during this cost of living and climate crisis.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Okay, so what are they what's on offer?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yes, so basically, as you said in the intro, food
Print partners with eateries and when they've got surplus food,
they need to find a way of selling it, and
food Print is a solution there. But things can sell,
things can change really quickly in a hospitality business, and
so the idea of a mystery bag allows the eateries
to put something up and it really is a mystery
So no two bags are going to be the same.
(01:37):
You usually expect to find around two between two to
four items in there, you know, and one day it
might be a salad and a muffin, the next day
it might be a pie and a sausage roll, you know.
And so you get that real sort of unboxing experience
with your food items every.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Days, like going back to school and opening the lunch
box and seeing what Mum's put in there for you exactly.
But I think it'd probably be more enjoyable. Is this
something that the businesses have been really happy to jump
on board or have they been asking you for something like.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
This, Yeah, absolutely so. As I said, it really simplifies
the platform for the eateies and it just is a
really fun way for them to use it. And yeah,
consumers are also loving it in the testing that we've
been doing.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So you make your purchase online and then you pop
in and you pick up the food exactly, do you
think that they'll take a look at the customer coming
and going, oh, I know them, they're like this bag,
or they're like, I mean it'll be interesting I see
what one of the times they do.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yes, yes, And sometimes the eatery might even give you
a bit of a bit of a choice, depending on
what they've got and how things are going on their day.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, what are you hearing from the hospitality industry in
terms of where business is at?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Look, I don't think I need to tell you or
your listeners that business is tough right now. You know, anecdotically,
some of the businesses are telling us that they're down
sort of twenty percent on what they would have expected
or on last year. And obviously consumers are also feeling
the pinch at the moment. And so for those businesses
using food print as a way for those back up
days when things don't go to play, and it's really
(03:07):
beneficial for them to be able to retain that value
in that food while also not allowing their food to
go to waste. You're not as devastating seeing food go
to waste. And it also has you know, it's got
those monetary implications for the business, but it also has
a huge implication on the climate crisis. And yeah, for
the businesses, it's also a great marketing opportunity. You know,
(03:28):
we also hear that food Print brings in new customers
that they've never seen before. So again, in that kind
of in this tight time, this you know, tight economic
situation that we have at the moment, it's really great
for them to be able to get their name out
there to a few more people.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Really positive thing, fixing lots of problems, food waste, the
declining hospitality sector, and our shrinking wallets, you know, making
it affordable. I can't quite believe it was twenty nineteen
when you launched food Print and came in here to
talk to me about it. How time flies. Absolutely, it
was like feels like just the other day. How have
(04:03):
the last five years gone.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, it's been a roller coaster, as it has been
for everyone, but no, it has been fantastic and I
am so grateful that I get to do what I
do every day and help support other businesses across the country.
We have grown food Print to several different regions around
the country, so you can now use the app between
Auckland and Dunedin and we're continuing to grow into other
(04:25):
regions throughout the rest of the year as well. So
keeping an eye on our social media is the best
place to see where we're going next and letting us
know if you want to see food Print in your
region if we're not there.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
So if somebody hasn't heard of food Print before, just
explain it really quickly. You basically download the app, you
jump on board wherever you are in the country. It
will tell you the outlets exactly associated who might be
near you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, So you can even follow your favorite eateries so
you can do a little search. You can use the
map for you to kind of scroll out, scroll around town,
see what's around. Once you add those eateries to your favorites,
you'll actually receive a push notification when they've got food available,
and we know that our customers love that because food
flies off the app seconds, and so you do often
have to be really quick to grab that food. Everything
(05:12):
on the app is discounted from at least thirty percent off.
There are times when eateries will put food on for
sort of eighteen ninety even sometimes one hundred percent discount.
That is making it free, and that is because those
businesses just don't want to see that food ending up
in the bin. You know, it's their hard work, it's
their money, it's their time.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And the fly by pick it up and just pick
it up. Happen to get yourself a great meal or
a bit of a discount.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Do you know how much food you have kept out
of landfall? Can you calculate that?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
We can? Normally the figure a say, share is that
we've kept about one hundred and seventy tons of emissions
from entering the atmosphere and warming the planet. So that's
sort of the main number that we focus on food
based having that impact on climate change. Yeah, means that
that number is the really important one for me.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh, good on you, Michael, Thank you for finding another
solution to help out the businesses. Thanks so much and
it's lovely to talk to you. That was Michael Garvey
Food print us Google Foodprint.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
You can find us on our website which is foodprint
dot app, or foodprint INZD on social media.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talk ZIB from nine am Sunday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk SEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hospitality businesses are struggling, consumers are feeling the pinch with
the cost of living, and food waste is a huge problem. Well,
my next guest has come up with a unique way
to battle all three. Enter the Mystery Bag. They are
the new creation by food Print founder Michael Garvey. Food
Print is an app that partners with local eateies to
sell their leftover food at a discounted prices. You probably
(00:35):
are using them, and mystery Bags are their new offering
to further help both hospitality and consumers. And Michael is
with me. Now, good morning, it's Maria Francisca. Thanks for
having me. How did mystery Bags come about?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, so this is something we've been sort of testing
with our audience for a while. The idea of a
mystery bag something that's been going a little bit viral
over on the old TikTok recently, Okay, and we wanted
to find a way of really simplifying our platform that's
already really easy to use, but making it even easier
for eateries, allowing concer humors to kind of add a
(01:07):
little bit of fun and sustainability into their ability to
eat out during this cost of living and climate crisis.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Okay, so what are they what's on offer?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yes, so basically, as you said in the intro, food
Print partners with eateries and when they've got surplus food,
they need to find a way of selling it, and
food Print is a solution there. But things can sell,
things can change really quickly in a hospitality business, and
so the idea of a mystery bag allows the eateries
to put something up and it really is a mystery
So no two bags are going to be the same.
(01:37):
You usually expect to find around two between two to
four items in there, you know, and one day it
might be a salad and a muffin, the next day
it might be a pie and a sausage roll, you know.
And so you get that real sort of unboxing experience
with your food items every.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Days, like going back to school and opening the lunch
box and seeing what Mum's put in there for you exactly.
But I think it'd probably be more enjoyable. Is this
something that the businesses have been really happy to jump
on board or have they been asking you for something like.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
This, Yeah, absolutely so. As I said, it really simplifies
the platform for the eateies and it just is a
really fun way for them to use it. And yeah,
consumers are also loving it in the testing that we've
been doing.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So you make your purchase online and then you pop
in and you pick up the food exactly, do you
think that they'll take a look at the customer coming
and going, oh, I know them, they're like this bag,
or they're like, I mean it'll be interesting I see
what one of the times they do.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yes, yes, And sometimes the eatery might even give you
a bit of a bit of a choice, depending on
what they've got and how things are going on their day.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, what are you hearing from the hospitality industry in
terms of where business is at?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Look, I don't think I need to tell you or
your listeners that business is tough right now. You know, anecdotically,
some of the businesses are telling us that they're down
sort of twenty percent on what they would have expected
or on last year. And obviously consumers are also feeling
the pinch at the moment. And so for those businesses
using food print as a way for those back up
days when things don't go to play, and it's really
(03:07):
beneficial for them to be able to retain that value
in that food while also not allowing their food to
go to waste. You're not as devastating seeing food go
to waste. And it also has you know, it's got
those monetary implications for the business, but it also has
a huge implication on the climate crisis. And yeah, for
the businesses, it's also a great marketing opportunity. You know,
(03:28):
we also hear that food Print brings in new customers
that they've never seen before. So again, in that kind
of in this tight time, this you know, tight economic
situation that we have at the moment, it's really great
for them to be able to get their name out
there to a few more people.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Really positive thing, fixing lots of problems, food waste, the
declining hospitality sector, and our shrinking wallets, you know, making
it affordable. I can't quite believe it was twenty nineteen
when you launched food Print and came in here to
talk to me about it. How time flies. Absolutely, it
was like feels like just the other day. How have
(04:03):
the last five years gone.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, it's been a roller coaster, as it has been
for everyone, but no, it has been fantastic and I
am so grateful that I get to do what I
do every day and help support other businesses across the country.
We have grown food Print to several different regions around
the country, so you can now use the app between
Auckland and Dunedin and we're continuing to grow into other
(04:25):
regions throughout the rest of the year as well. So
keeping an eye on our social media is the best
place to see where we're going next and letting us
know if you want to see food Print in your
region if we're not there.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
So if somebody hasn't heard of food Print before, just
explain it really quickly. You basically download the app, you
jump on board wherever you are in the country. It
will tell you the outlets exactly associated who might be
near you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, So you can even follow your favorite eateries so
you can do a little search. You can use the
map for you to kind of scroll out, scroll around town,
see what's around. Once you add those eateries to your favorites,
you'll actually receive a push notification when they've got food available,
and we know that our customers love that because food
flies off the app seconds, and so you do often
have to be really quick to grab that food. Everything
(05:12):
on the app is discounted from at least thirty percent off.
There are times when eateries will put food on for
sort of eighteen ninety even sometimes one hundred percent discount.
That is making it free, and that is because those
businesses just don't want to see that food ending up
in the bin. You know, it's their hard work, it's
their money, it's their time.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And the fly by pick it up and just pick
it up. Happen to get yourself a great meal or
a bit of a discount.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Do you know how much food you have kept out
of landfall? Can you calculate that?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
We can? Normally the figure a say, share is that
we've kept about one hundred and seventy tons of emissions
from entering the atmosphere and warming the planet. So that's
sort of the main number that we focus on food
based having that impact on climate change. Yeah, means that
that number is the really important one for me.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh, good on you, Michael, Thank you for finding another
solution to help out the businesses. Thanks so much and
it's lovely to talk to you. That was Michael Garvey
Food print us Google Foodprint.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
You can find us on our website which is foodprint
dot app, or foodprint INZD on social media.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talk ZIB from nine am Sunday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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