In the news on RÚV, on Friday, March 27, an interview was aired with Hlynur Rafn Guðmundsson, one of the founders and owners of Humble. It was revealed that 70,000 meals that were on their way to the trash instead ended up on the tables of Icelanders last year.
In the interview, Hlynur demonstrates how people can use the app to reduce food waste. Humble is accessible to everyone for free and is designed to help companies reduce food waste while offering users discounted food and various other goods. These include pastries and bread from bakeries, dishes from restaurants, groceries from stores, and cosmetics, among other things. When asked why companies choose to sell their products through Humble, Hlynur says that environmental awareness is the main reason.
“It’s unpleasant to throw food in the trash. There are also significant costs associated with disposing of it, and it results in major revenue loss. This way, companies get paid for something that would otherwise have gone to waste.”
Like many innovations, Humble was created during the COVID period. Food waste in Iceland was last measured in 2022 and was found to be 60,000 tons per year, of which waste from households, restaurants, and retail amounted to around 30,000 tons. Hlynur says in the interview that Humble’s data indicates that about 31 tons of food were saved from being thrown away last year through the app. He adds that cost-conscious homemakers are the largest group of users, and around 32,000 individuals now use the app.
Several large companies’ cafeterias now offer employees the option to buy leftover meals through a closed section of the app, food that would otherwise be discarded. Hlynur also says that they are constantly looking for new ways to reduce waste.
Humble was founded in 2023. The company is part of the investment portfolio of the Kría Innovation Fund, which first supported it through the Frumsjóður 2023 initiative.
The full interview can be viewed here.
