Zero-waste bulk store Unpackt now sells near-expired items & ugly foods at lower prices

Selling imperfect but still edible items.

Zoe Ern Yap| February 07, 2023, 12:53 PM

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Of the many food waste enterprises in Singapore, have you heard of Unpackt?

On Jan. 26, the homegrown zero-waste bulk store announced a new initiative to further reduce food waste.

What is Unpackt?

Unpackt is a social enterprise that aims to make a sustainable lifestyle feasible and accessible for everyone. It touts itself as Singapore's first zero-waste store.

Their physical store sells a range of grocery and environmentally-friendly lifestyle products, with minimal use of disposable packaging.

Customers are encouraged to bring their own containers to pack what they buy.

What's happening

According to Unpackt's Facebook, the store will also be selling surplus goods that might be blemished or near their expiry dates.

These will be available under a new category on their website, "Save More Waste Less".

Customers are able to purchase these items for home delivery or self collection in stores.

A quick glance at the website reveals a variety of fruits, canned food and vegetables up for grabs, at discounted prices as low as S$2.60.

For fresh produce, the website states the condition of the goods, labelling them as "perfect/near perfect". Expiry dates are also displayed — some canned goods expire in the middle of the year.

Image via Unpackt

Here are some of the goods they've managed to save from the trash.

Image via Unpackt/ FB

Image via Unpackt/ FB

Unpackt hopes that this initiative will help customers to "beat inflation" and enjoy cost savings.

In addition, it will aid in preventing unnecessary food wastage as they work closely with importers to divert their excess and short-expiry items.

In the past, they have collaborated with TreeDots, a business-to-business (B2B) platform for suppliers to offload unsold food and beverage products at discounted prices.

However, since TreeDots ended their group buy services from June last year, Unpackt has hosted their own group buys.

Importers looking to reduce food waste and save their excess/short expiry items can reach out to Unpackt via the email info@unpackt.com.sg.

Ordering process

Potential buyers should take note that the enterprise requires customers to order two days in advance for delivery from Fridays to Sundays.

They have designated cut-off days for orders according to the buyer's postal codes.

For customers who live in the:

  • South, orders have to be made by 6pm on Wednesdays.
  • West and Central, orders have to be made by 6pm on Thursdays.
  • North and East, orders have to be made by 6pm on Friday.

Image via Unpackt

Location

If one opts for self collection of items, they can head down to their Jalan Kuras outlet.

Related articles

Cover image from Unpackt/ FB and Kw L/ Google Maps.