GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As the cost of food continues to rise, we are all looking for ways to save money at the grocery store.

In this week's 13 On Your Side Money Guide, Meredith TerHaar is introducing you to a new app that can save you 50% or more on produce, meat and dairy.

It's called Flash Food. We shot this story last Thursday, so keep that in mind when we talk about sell-by dates.

Maybe you've seen the big cooler below in the front of your local Meijer or Family Fare and had no idea what it is. 

Enter the man who created it.

"We basically took the discount food rack, made it look cool, and put it on your cell phone," explained Flash Food CEO Josh Domingues.

"Grocers have a lot of food that is nearing it's sell-by date and what often happens is they have to move it off of their shelf because they get other food that has to sit on the shelf so Flash Food is an app that lets the grocer take that food that still has two or three days of shelf life, mark it down 50 percent, and post it to the app. We send a notification to our users who see the deal through their phone, pay through their phone and pick that food up in the store the same day," said Josh.

Local cookbook author and Flash Food user Kate Bolt shows us how it works in-store. She's picking up her order so we can see the savings.

Kate purchased some Atlantic salmon. The normal cost is $7.99 but with Flash Food it's $3.99. She plans to freeze it to use another day.

Organic chicken tenderloins are another great example. The price would have been $10.39. With Flash Food the price is $4.94.

The fresh veggie trays were in the Flash Food cooler four full days before their sell-by date. They too were half off.

The start up, based in Toronto, rolled out in Michigan in early 2021 and is already making a huge impact.  

"To date we have diverted over 30 million pounds of food that would have ended up in landfills and we've saved shoppers almost 90 million on their grocery bills," said Josh.   

Flash Food coolers are inside every Meijer store and many Family Fare's in West Michigan, all you have to do is download the free app. Visit their website to learn more.

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