FoodMesh is a self-serve platform that connects food processors and distributors with charities, non-profits and the food service industry.

Our aim is to help your business make use of food that would otherwise go to waste, helping you to save money, feed more, and waste less!

1. Post your surplus food – Suppliers add details and photos of the products they are offering to sell or donate.

2. Notify Buyers – Suppliers select the Buyers they want to have access to view and receive notifications of their listings.

3. Exchange – Buyers sign into their FoodMesh account and purchase the product from the Supplier.

4. Success –  Buyers pick up or have the products delivered, and food surplus is diverted from the waste stream!

We are currently available in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. If you are a food business or nonprofit in this area, sign up here.

If you are in another area of Canada, sign up and we’ll get in touch. We are expanding soon!

Nature doesn’t have waste, so why do we?

Throwing away food makes no sense! And in some places, it is now illegal! FoodMesh helps businesses find more optimal uses for surplus food with the click of a button.

Use FoodMesh to keep food out of the landfill, fight food insecurity, and benefit your business in the following ways:

• Save time – eliminate excessive back and forth with an automatic system.

• Recover Costs – the fee we charge is less than your disposal fees.

• Simplify your tax receipts – FoodMesh streamlines the tax receipt process.

• Build New Relationships – Access new relationships at the click of a mouse.

• Track- where your food goes/comes from.

• Collect– data.

1. Access -more donations with less work

2. Control- what food you receive and when

3. Track- where your donations come from

4. Simplify- your tax receipt process

Not exactly. To ensure our community is full of integral organizations, we vet everyone who registers before we verify them to use FoodMesh.

We encourage food suppliers, distributors, processors, retailers, grocers, restaurants, caterers, non-profits, social enterprises and charities in good standing to apply.

Your organization can sign up for a FoodMesh account at no cost. 

We won’t share your data, such as your contact and existing donors lists, with anyone.  We also do not store any credit card data and are therefore PCI compliant.

In terms of liability, there is a legislation called the Food Donor Encouragement Act that protects food donors from liability for damages caused by donations of apparently wholesome food that they donate in good faith.  You can learn more about it here:

 http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/

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Access to FoodMesh is free for Buyers and Sellers.

Sellers – donations are free to post. Sales come with a nominal service fee of 15% so please take that into account when you’re pricing your products. Donations are free to post!

The expectation with FoodMesh is that Sellers offer products for 30% or more below cost. FoodMesh is an alternative to paying to dispose of or compost surplus products.

Ready to recover costs and expand your connections? Get started here!

Suppliers – Once you sign up, we take care of the first listing for you and walk you through how to use our platform.

We take care of the payment process so you don’t have to, and we’ll issue your business with a cheque after your product sells on FoodMesh, minus the 15% service fee (which includes GST). For any donations you list, we don’t take a fee. 

In the future, we will introduce paid membership subscription packages where you can access enhanced features.

Buyers – FoodMesh is free to use. To purchase products use your credit card, and your receipt is emailed to you. We use Stripe as our payment processor and don’t store your credit card details, unless you want Stripe to.

SUPPLIERS ,

When creating a listing, you can choose whether it is pick-up and if you want to offer a delivery option.

On your ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT page, you can indicate the cost for delivery, and offer multiple options.

The Buyer/Recipient chooses the option on check-out, and will then arrange the pick-up or delivery details with you directly or by sending a message through FoodMesh.

It’s free to register and only takes a minute, HERE. Once you’ve clicked on the return email to verify it, you will have access to the FoodMesh site within 24 hours (if you register on a Friday, it may take until Monday for your verification to go through).

You can then log on and browse what’s available to buy, and registered charities or non-profits can browse listings to buy or claim donations.

Payment is made using a credit card, just like any other online shopping site. We do not save your credit card details, and you receive a receipt from Stripe (our payment provider).

Your card is not charged until the Supplier ‘accepts’ your order.

There are minimum orders placed by each Supplier, and some offer O.BO. on quantity and price – so put in an offer!

Pick up is the default option. If that’s not an option for you, please message the Supplier directly (on the page hit the MESSAGE button) to ask for options.