How to not let perfectly good food go to waste
Preston Wong of treatsure suggests using their app as your first step
Whenever I’m at a buffet or any kind of meal where the table is almost groaning from the weight of so much food, I find myself wondering: Where will all the excess and leftovers go?
It turns out I’m not alone.
“It reminds me of the magnitude of the problem we’re facing, and triggers me to think of new possibilities of how treatsure can play a part in solving it,” says Preston Wong.
Preston is the CEO of treatsure – an app that allows us to buy and consume a merchant’s food surplus, thereby helping to lessen the amount of food waste in Singapore. We can do this by checking the app for available “treasures” and alerts for food items, such as buffet boxes from restaurants and hotels.
“The process for the treatsure boxes is you scan, pay, and then get a box at the hotel, where you go in to the buffet to choose and take away,” he adds.
You’ll love the choices. Preston has gotten the following amazing foods and products just from using the app:
• Asian cuisine
“Especially butter chicken, rendang and satay from several of our buffet restaurants,” he reveals.
• Meat carvings
As well as “beef stew and pasta from a live pasta station at one of our international buffet partners”.
• Assorted cakes
Preston had them from a hotel partner. “They are just so wonderfully made and there’s a variety to mix and match with my buffet food,” he recalls.
• Rare fruits
Think golden kiwi, Kyoho grapes and Shepard avocado, which he enjoyed from UglyFood.
• Pizza
A former merchant partner’s came “with a very nice dough and generous toppings,” he praises.
Not only will your tummy and wallet thank you (the food is affordable), but the environment will too.
“We’ve saved thousands of portions of food from the app since our inception,” Preston maintains. (The app was first released on App Store in 2017, and Google Play a year later.)
“Feedback from both businesses and consumers has been largely positive. For the businesses, we create a novel business opportunity for them while giving them a new channel to contribute to saving food,” he continues.
“Consumers have been very encouraging in writing us appreciation emails, sharing that ours is a very innovative but wonderful initiative that they can participate in to save food from waste.”
Try it and you’ll likely send Preston and his team a grateful email too.
Go to treatsure now for more information, or catch up with them on Instagram and Facebook. You can download the app from App Store and Google Play.