JOHANNESBURG – South Africans have saved R12.5 million on their grocery bills while preventing 200,000 meals from ending up in landfill through Refreshi, a local start-up that has built a surplus food market.
The startup, which grew from just 35 affiliated stores to 700 stores across the U.S. in one year, released its first annual grocery savings report.
The report, released today, Tuesday 14 July 2026, reveals that selling high-quality surplus food at a discount (rather than throwing it away) is helping South African households stretch their grocery budgets, while creating new revenue streams for retailers.
Through its app, Refreshi connects consumers with high-quality surplus food from grocery stores, bakeries, and restaurants.
Users can browse discounted “surprise bags” available at participating locations near them, pay securely online, and pick them up during their scheduled pick-up time at the end of the day.
Food that would have been thrown away is now available to consumers at a fraction of its original retail price.
This model exceeded our initial expectations and achieved great results last year.
Since its launch in Stellenbosch in March 2025, Refresi Bags are now available in 700 participating stores in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Gukebela, George and Mossel Bay, with an average of 10-15 new store additions per week as of July 2026.
These stores include Spar, Bootlegger, Vida e Caffe, King Pie, Chateau Gateux, Vovo Telo, Ou Meul, Newmark Hotels, OK Mini Marks, and more.
The platform currently serves over 200,000 registered users and rescues over 20,000 high-quality meals from landfills every month.
In the past year alone, South African consumers saved a total of R12.5 million on their grocery bills through Reflesi Surprise Bags.
Participating retailers recovered over R10 million in revenue from high-quality food that would otherwise have been unfairly written off as waste.
Local environmental benefits are equally important.
By rescuing approximately 1 kilogram of food for every Surprise Bag sold, the Reflesi community has prevented an estimated 500,000 kilograms of CO₂ emissions, saved 120 million liters of water, and saved more than 400,000 square meters of agricultural land.
“Food waste is not just an environmental issue, it is becoming a cost of living issue for millions of South Africans,” says Jacob Holbach, Founder and CEO of Reflesi.
“Every Surprise Bag helps families spend less on groceries while helping businesses recover value from food that is still safe to eat.
“That’s why we’ve seen so much growth over the past year.”
This growth comes against a backdrop of serious food waste challenges nationwide.
According to the latest industry report, an estimated R61.5 billion worth of food is wasted in South Africa each year, with approximately 10.3 million tonnes of edible food sent to landfill each year.
“Organic waste now accounts for more than half of the nation's municipal waste stream, increasing the strain on municipal landfills, while local families continue to grapple with soaring food prices amid a cost-of-living crisis that continues to hit consumers this year,” Holbach said.
“We believe technology can help change this for consumers, retailers and our environment.
“We found that by creating an easy-to-use, everyday app, we could build a path for consumers and businesses to keep surplus food flowing while putting money back in both pockets.”
The company shows little sign of slowing down.
Refreshi conservatively expects participating stores to exceed 2,000 within the next year.
Looking further ahead, the company sees an opportunity to build one of South Africa's largest circular economy markets by saving millions of meals a year. International markets suggest great opportunities.
In Italy, a country with a similar population to South Africa, a similar surplus food platform has around 29,000 members and saves around 22 million meals each year.
“Our startup aims to complement the important work already being done by organizations we partner with, such as FoodForward SA and SA Harvest,” Holbach said.
“Food donations remain critical to supporting vulnerable communities, but not all surplus products can be redistributed quickly enough.
“Refreshi's app helps fill that glaring gap.”
The startup's consumer app is further supported by Refresh Exchange, another business-to-business platform that enables manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to efficiently move excess inventory before it expires.
Taken together, both platforms are well-equipped to realize the startup's vision of building one of South Africa's largest circular economy marketplaces.
As South Africa works towards its commitment to halve food waste by 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Mr Reflesi believes the solution lies in making food rescue a regular part of everyday shopping, rather than an occasional sustainability exercise.
Click here to access Refreshi's first annual Grocery Savings Report.
