Hungarians saved twice as much food - Two million packages rescued from waste through Munch

Last autumn they were still at one million - now this has doubled. Hungarians are increasingly turning to sustainable solutions like Munch. Most of the food was rescued in Pest County, particularly in the capital, followed by Csongrád-Csanád and Komárom-Esztergom counties.

Two million packages saved from waste

According to Nébih research results, in Hungary, Hungarian households produce an average of more than 59 kg of food waste per capita annually.¹ This figure was close to 66 kilograms before Munch appeared. While the entire decrease cannot be attributed to the Hungarian startup, the more than two million packages saved have significantly contributed to the decline in national figures. Most of the food was rescued in Pest County, particularly in the capital, followed by Csongrád-Csanád and Komárom-Esztergom counties. In these counties, not only do the numbers demonstrate the popularity of food rescue, but also the online communities that have formed there, which significantly shape people's sustainability habits. (revealed by research conducted in the Munch community)²

"It's almost unbelievable that less than a year ago we saved our one millionth package, and now we're already well over double that. This number is thanks to the fact that the food rescue app is no longer available only in major cities, but in more and more parts of the country. The success of our nationwide expansion is equally thanks to our smaller, independent partners and chains like SPAR, PENNY, Auchan and Starbucks, who are fighting food waste together with us." - said Albert Wettstein, co-founder of Munch.

Munch's global expansion

In the summer of 2020, four young university students created an app to fight food waste in a small Budapest studio apartment. Their goal was to transform the Hungarian food service industry and bring a new green perspective into the daily lives of both restaurateurs and customers. Since then, the startup has come a long way - it is currently present as a leading service in four countries, with more than 3500 food service establishments and 3 million app downloads connected to it. The latest expansion took place in neighboring Romania, where they doubled the number of partners in two months. Currently, Romanians can rescue food in Bucharest from a total of 170 locations. The rapid expansion was made possible by international investors who have also invested in Auto1 Group, Betfair, Docplanner and Allegro, among others.

Munch doesn't stop here - you can now rescue food from manufacturers too

Munch began its vertical expansion last November when it introduced the Munch Market concept. The webshop provides manufacturers and distributors with the opportunity to sell products stuck due to overproduction, slow turnover, and near expiration dates at wallet-friendly prices. The platform currently has partnerships with more than 50 wholesale partners and suppliers, which has resulted in nearly 1400 individual products appearing in recent times. Among the partners are Chio, Bonduelle and HELL.

Contact and creative materials

Creative materials related to the press release are available at this link.
Contact:
Belayane Najoua
Global PR & Partnerships Area Lead
+36/30 5394383
nazsi@munch.hu

1 Source: Nébih: https://portal.nebih.gov.hu/-/ujabb-lepes-a-fenntarthatosag-fele-a-magyar-haztartasok-egyre-kevesebb-elelmiszert-pazarolnak

2 Source: Research conducted by Munch: https://munchhu.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/Marketing/ETEo7VBg7wBLrkkxCEovHzgBB3nC8utD0LdIkLsqEs56FA?e=AprhUp