Reshaping the way consumers see food products

About 3,300 tonnes of food waste were disposed of at landfills everyday, according to Environmental Protection Department figures in 2022. That’s about 30 percent of municipal solid waste. But a Friends of the Earth study found that at least 29 tonnes of food waste were still consumable, most of them were expired products thrown out by supermarkets.

Several non-government organizations and social enterprises have been trying to cut down on the amount of food that ends up in landfills. GreenPrice, for example, focuses on reselling food that would soon expire but still safe to eat. They sell them at half price or less. Hon Chun-him, 27, one of the founders of GreenPrice, aims to eliminate waste and popularise a sustainable lifestyle.

He was inspired by a visit to Food Angel, a food rescue NGO, where he received some discarded short-dated food donations.

Hon and his partner founded GreenPrice in 2016 after they won some funding from a university social innovation competition. Today, GreenPrice has 12 branches around Hong Kong. Some are located in high-end places like Central or Tsuen Wan OP Mall, giving their brand a luxurious and trendy reputation. 

“We questioned the safety of the food at first, but then we learned more about the concept of “best-before” and realised the products are still safe to consume,” said Hon.

Hon and his partners then developed the idea of redistributing short-dated and expired products. The Centre for Food Safety stated that the “best-before” date is about food quality. The food is expected to maintain its best taste and texture until this date, with proper storage. But the food is still safe to eat after this date, even though its quality could be compromised.

“Used-by” dates relate to food safety, that is the last date on which it’s safe for consumption. After that, the product may pose a health risk, especially for perishable items.

GreenPrice processes around 500,000 products every month, about 60 percent of which are food and beverages. Unlike major charities and NGOs, many of GreenPrice’s products were imported from overseas, including beers and wines.

“Usually people think short-dated and expired goods are sold to low-income families,” Hon said. He added that some people may view social enterprises as outdated and unappealing and that their products are not attractive. 

But he hopes to change that perception. GreenPrice aims to attract middle income customers who have higher purchasing power, but right now most of their customers are young newlyweds.

Yannes Lee, 30, a regular customer of GreenPrice, said the food is safe and cheap and felt the sincerity of what GreenPrice wants to achieve. “We know the difference between best before and expired,” she said. She often buys food and supplements from GreenPrice with no worries.

Despite its popularity among customers and staff members, GreenPrice has to deal with issues with product quality.

“Since we are selling short-dated products, it is normal for customers to have concerns about its quality. So our employees would taste some of the batch products,” Hon explained. “Although it is time-consuming, it is the most accurate method.”

Apart from finding new customers for their products, GreenPrice also tries to help food banks expand the kinds of products they offer.

“Food banks mainly collect basic products that are for daily necessities,” Hon said. But they do not distribute luxury items such as goose liver paste, which GreenPrice has offered. “There was a gap between charities and the consumer market, therefore we can help to fill the gap”, said Hon.

Hon believed branding is an important factor for GreenPrice. “We decided to attract young people, with our brand design, branch locations such that they associate with a modern style,” said Hon.

Many of the staff members at GreenPrice are GenZers. “Gen Z members are more likely to achieve our objectives,” said Hon.

Many of their workers are fresh graduates who are not affected by other companies’ standards, and therefore more able to adopt GreenPrice’s goals.

They also tend to be familiar with technology. “We have created and programmed many systems ourselves, including one for automatically adjusting the prices,” said Hon.

GreenPrice organises gatherings to build connections between retail staff members and office employees. “Interactions help cultivate a sense of compassion, which enhances the work environment,” Hon said.

Frontline employees can express their concerns and make suggestions during these gatherings, such as staff shortage at certain branches. 

King Ho, 25, works for GreenPrice. He enjoys the working environment because there are no gaps between employees and management. The majority of young colleagues are close and get along with each other. 

However, Hon admitted poor quality is sometimes inevitable. “The same batch of goods might be collected from many locations with different storage conditions, which causes inconsistencies in the products’ quality,” he said.

Yolk Tse, 25, a customer of GreenPrice, said she is not worried about buying expired products. “I can easily approach one of the GreenPrice stores to file a complaint, in case the product I bought has any problem,” Tse said.