Tons of perfectly good food get thrown out every day and the Wholesale Club in Halifax is trying to keep products out of the dump. They’re one of Loblaws leading stores when it comes to food waste diversion. It’s part of the big company’s push for zero food waste in landfills by 2030. “At this store in 2025, we diverted over 150,000 pounds worth of food. That’s about 14 elephants for the food,” says Ryan Cleveland, Wholesale Club Halifax store manager. “We have our markdown programs that are flash foods. We have our in-store markdown program, and then we have straight donations. And if the food is beyond consumption, then we can donate straight to farms.” The flash food boxes are packed with vegetables that are nearing their expiry dates. They are sold for reduced prices and through an app. The program is offered at hundreds of Loblaws affiliated stores across Canada. “Starting off, you may get one to five people a week, and now we’re looking at at least one to five a day, it seems,” says Adam Martin, a produce and bakery manager with the Wholesale Club. The program rolled out around 2022 and the team says it gained popularity over the years. The teams at each store create the assortment of items for each box and they range in size and price. “If an individual wants to buy a case of an item, they say, ‘Hey, can this go cheaper?’ I typically tell them, you know, we’ll look at the quality of the product together. If it’s still good, I try to tell them, check out flash food throughout the week, because we put on 25 pound boxes of tomatoes, green peppers,” Martin says. “It’s more than just a $3 to $5 box of potatoes and onions here and there. We also do all of our bulkheads as well, on there.” They mark down items that are also quite popular. These are determined based on the lifespan of the items. “If they’re not purchased within the day? Typically I’ll look at the product if it’s still good for, you know, someone to take home and cook with. We’ll just try to reduce it further,” says Martin. On Monday, the team at the wholesaler provided a guided tour to the media and MP for Halifax Shannon Miedema. Miedema says the programs are important as they help decrease waste and the cost of food for people. “The great part is that when we’re reducing food waste, we’re actually giving more affordable, healthy, still good, fresh food to people in our community that struggle with the price of groceries, which is very, very high right now,” says Miedema. Miedema adds that when it comes to high food costs, the federal government is looking at emergency fixes as well as long-term solutions. She notes the work they are doing at the Wholesale Club is part of those long-term solutions. Shoppers are motivated to help the environment but also save money. Benjamin Gallup says he and his family try to reduce food waste as much as possible. “We limit how much we buy in our grocery runs, and, like, have a plan for how to use it. So, like, you know, a recipe or two that we are just getting stuff for. That helps a little bit, but obviously it’s kind of hard to totally avoid it.” Gallup. Everyone has their own ways to combat food waste. “Eating leftovers. And trying to keep on top of what’s in our fridge,” says Jean Jordan. “We are visiting Halifax and we were at a restaurant the other night and we took the leftovers from the restaurant to have later on. We don’t like to see food wasted,” says Scott Jordan. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
