New ‘PareUp’ App Lets Restaurants Sell Discount Leftovers Instead of Throwing Them Away

It was a cruel and stupid person who decided restaurants shouldn’t be allowed to give their leftovers away at the end of the night, a decision which the USDA estimates results in about 133 billion pounds of food from retailers, restaurants, and homes wasted every year. Thankfully it doesn’t have to be this way.

Over in New York, a new startup called PareUp wants to help, well, pair restaurants and consumers looking to sell and buy excess foodstuffs at discounted prices. Set to launch in the Apple store by fall and be available to Android users “in the future,” according to the Los Angeles Times, the mobile app will store inventories of participating retailers’ products, allow retailers to update and set prices for the listings, and inform customers of the offerings for the day.

Like similar app Leftover Swap, which allows users to upload photos of their leftovers for other, nearby users to locate and potentially pick up, the goal of PareUp is to cut down on waste and help food retailers increase profits — albeit in a significantly less sketchy, poison-prone way.

A prototype is expected to be available by the end of summer, with the first partnered restaurants including New York City’s Oslo Coffee Roasters and Breads Bakery. With any luck, the app will find success and spread to the West Coast. Helloooo, discounted milky buns.

H/T PSFK + PicThx PareUp