Careit Celebrates Food Waste Donation Milestone
After its national launch two years ago, food rescue app Careit is celebrating the recovery of more than 130 million pounds of food in the United States, thanks to 30,000-plus donations from 12,000 organizations.
Founded in 2021, Careit is a Los Angeles-based free food donation and rescue app that connects businesses to nonprofits to combat hunger. In the United States, 31% of all food goes unsold or uneaten — and most of that goes to waste. According to ReFed, only 12% of the 14.5 million tons that could be donated actually does get donated.
A major differentiator for Careit compared with other food donation apps is that it's the first free app targeting prepared food donations that connects businesses and nonprofits to supply them to people in need. Careit isn't proprietary for any nonprofit and doesn't require food donors to sign exclusivity contracts. App users can optionally pay subscription fees to access advanced features such as multi-location data reporting to help with tax deductions, and record-keeping for food rescues and donations. Corporations can track their food donation efforts for new food waste policy compliance and environmental social governance (ESG) campaign efforts.
Among the grocers and well-known businesses who have joined Careit to combat food waste and donate surplus food to nonprofits across the nation are Amazon, Food 4 Less, Compass Foods, Google, Vallarta Supermarkets, Cost Less Food Co., BevMo! (a GoPuff subsidiary) and Bristol Farms.
“Careit was designed to lift up emergency relief organizations, and to see where the app started with minimal funding to the exponential growth we’re experiencing today is welcomed proof that our food donation business model is working and building positive momentum,” said Alyson Schill, CEO and co-founder of Careit.
