Five North Coast friends are tackling South Africa’s food waste and food insecurity – one mystery pack at a time.

Childhood friends Kensy Mkhabele (28), Ryan Ramsoondur (28), Nikeel Nundcoomar (28), Sagel Pillay (29) and Dylan Schwikkard (28) launched their start-up food rescue platform, Just in Time, in Ballito last week.

They aim to link businesses that have expiring – but still safe – stock to customers willing to buy it at reduced prices, hoping to make a dent in the more than 10-million tonnes of food wasted annually in South Africa.

So far, they have enlisted a florist in Cape Town and their first local café, Yoli’s Bakery at Lifestyle Centre, which joined the platform last week.

“We were really happy with how the launch went, and Yoli’s has sold a few mystery packs a day since. We are hoping it picks up and we can expand in Ballito,” said founder and CEO, Mkhabele.

The contents of each mystery pack depend on the day’s overflow stock at each business and no substitutions are allowed. For example, Yoli’s packs on Tuesday included seeded sourdough bread, croissants and bagels – all at 50% off.

To join the platform, businesses must agree to a minimum price reduction of 40%, with all transactions and pickups taking place in-store.

“We understand the difficulty many businesses face in forecasting, which often results in leftover stock that goes to waste. That’s around 2.8-million tonnes from the foodservice and retail industries each year,” said Mkhabele.

“At the same time, it is projected that nearly 48% of South Africans will experience some level of food insecurity by the end of this year.”

Mkhabele, who holds a Master’s degree in transport economics from Stellenbosch University, said he was inspired by similar projects he encountered during a semester abroad in Belgium.

“Considering the situation in South Africa, it seemed crazy that nothing like this existed, so we decided to create it ourselves.”

“We do not discriminate on scale and are open to working with any viable businesses. We hope to get major retailers on board in the future.”

Just in Time is available online at www.just-in-time.org.za and can also be downloaded as an app.

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