Flashfood, the digital marketplace that allows consumers to access heavily discounted food nearing its best-by date, this morning announced that Nicholas Bertram, former president of Ahold Delhaize-owned The GIANT Company, is its new president-COO.
The company pointed to Bertram’s history of focusing on sustainability, innovation and growth – at Jewel-Osco, Walmart, in addition to GIANT – as making him ideal for Flashfood, which in 2022 “successfully diverted over 65 million pounds of food from landfills – a milestone achieved following the company’s rapid expansion to over 1,550 grocery stores across North America. In addition to providing consumers and retailers with a simple solution to reduce food waste, Flashfood has also saved shoppers more than $150 million on grocery bills during a time when food costs are rising more than 11 percent.”
The Flashfood app, the announcement says, “enables consumers to browse deals – directly from their phone – as a way to save up to 50% off high-quality items nearing their best-by date, such as meats, dairy, seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, bakery items and more. Shoppers conveniently browse and buy discounted food items directly through the Flashfood app on their mobile phone, and then simply pick up their order from the Flashfood Zone located inside their participating store.”
“I have never been more excited about the collective impact the food industry, sustainability-minded investors and technology companies like Flashfood can have on our future,” Bertram said in a prepared statement, adding, “Together with its retail partners, Flashfood is already making huge inroads in reducing food waste while helping consumers save money – and now is the right time to accelerate this bold work.”
KC’s View:
Last June, while Bertram was still at Giant, I had the opportunity to go to Philadelphia and spent part of a day touring stores with him, and I was tremendously impressed by both his vision for retail and his connection to the front lines – all of which will be critical in helping Flashfood to expand and grow. (The company appears to have a pretty decent footprint in the east and midwest, but virtually no presence in California, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, and other Rocky Mountain states. In other words, lots of room for growth.)
On the one hand, it is too bad when talented retail executives move into the tech sector, because retail companies lose out by their moving on. But, on the other hand, people like Bertram will make these tech companies better at serving retailers, and helping retailers serve customers.
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