Regional surplus food app saves over half a million meals in 2025

As Southeast Asia faces the twin pressures of rising living costs and persistent food waste, digital marketplace Yindii is emerging as a practical example of how technology can align affordability with sustainability. The Singapore-headquartered food-surplus app closed 2025 having helped rescue more than 500,000 meals across Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong, translating surplus food into affordable meals and measurable environmental benefits.

Founded in 2020 by Louis-Alban Batard-Dupre and Mahima Rajangam Natarajan, Yindii connects food and beverage businesses with consumers willing to collect end-of-day surplus through discounted “Surprise Bags”. The model aims to address a structural inefficiency in the food system, where high-quality unsold food is routinely discarded despite growing demand for affordable meals.

In 2025 alone, Yindii users rescued the equivalent of one meal every minute, preventing more than 1,375 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. According to the company, this climate impact is comparable to driving a petrol-powered car for around 11 million kilometres or the emissions from burning roughly 580,000 litres of petrol.

Turning surplus into savings

For consumers, the appeal lies in price and discovery. Surprise Bags typically offer food at 50 to 80 percent below retail value, making premium bakery goods, café meals and hotel buffet items accessible to a wider audience. In Singapore, Yindii estimates that users collectively saved around SGD 3 million in 2025 by purchasing surplus food through the app.

For businesses, the platform reframes surplus from a cost into a revenue stream. Across the region, Yindii reports that more than USD 2.5 million has flowed back to partner businesses in 2025, income that would otherwise have been lost through waste disposal.

Explaining the thinking behind the model, Yindii co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Mahima Rajangam Natarajan said, “Every meal rescued is a step toward making high-quality food accessible and affordable for everyone. We’re proving that sustainability and affordability can go hand in hand with social equity. What excites us most is seeing families, students and office workers discover new neighbourhood favourites while knowing they are doing something tangible to help the planet.”

She added that the platform is also changing how businesses view surplus. “We are also watching our partners turn what used to be an end-of-day loss into a new source of loyalty, revenue and pride for their teams. Thousands of F&B brands are now transforming surplus into a meaningful new revenue stream, with more than USD 2.5 million flowing back into their businesses instead of into the bin.”

Market-by-market impact

While the regional totals are striking, Yindii’s growth has varied by market, shaped by local food cultures and waste dynamics.

In Hong Kong, diners rescued more than 250,000 meals through the app in 2025. Established partners such as Saint Honore Cake Shop, Circle K and Pret A Manger have integrated surplus sales into daily operations. Saint Honore alone accounted for more than 75,000 meals saved, equivalent to around 187 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Other partners including Rosewood Hong Kong, Little Mermaid, NOC Coffee Co and Pacific Coffee reported clearing between 85 and 95 percent of their surplus using the platform. Yindii has more than tripled in size in Hong Kong over the past year and reached profitability, a milestone that has helped build confidence among partners. The company notes that around two-thirds of its Hong Kong user base is female, reflecting broader trends in household food purchasing.

In Singapore, where Yindii launched in 2024, users rescued more than 300,000 meals in 2025. The app has helped partners achieve a nationwide surplus clearance rate of roughly 75 percent, according to company data. Popular bakery and café brands such as Paul, Baker and Cook and SaladStop have joined hotel buffets and neighbourhood grocers in using Surprise Bags to reduce waste while attracting cost-conscious diners.

Altogether, Singapore partners have recovered more than SGD 1.5 million in avoided food losses. For a sector facing rising rents, labour costs and ingredient prices, this additional revenue stream is becoming increasingly relevant.

Food waste and climate context

Food waste is a major but often under-addressed contributor to climate change. When food decomposes in landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide over shorter timescales. At the same time, wasted food represents lost resources, including water, energy and labour embedded in production and transport.

In Singapore alone, around 800,000 tonnes of food are wasted each year, a figure highlighted by policymakers and civil society groups as a risk not only to the climate but also to long-term food security. Against this backdrop, food rescue platforms like Yindii are increasingly seen as complementary to prevention efforts higher up the supply chain.

The company’s model focuses on redistribution rather than redistribution through charities, positioning itself between commercial food service and everyday consumers. This approach allows it to scale quickly without the logistics complexity associated with donations, while still delivering environmental and social benefits.

Recognition and community building

Yindii’s growth has also attracted attention beyond its user base. In October, the company was named a finalist in the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, recognising its approach to tackling food waste. In Singapore, Yindii hosted the Eco-Brand Awards 2025 during Impact Week at ONE, celebrating 25 brands and media partners contributing to waste reduction.

At the event, Poh Li San, Chair of Singapore’s Parliamentary Environment Committee, emphasised that tackling food waste is essential for both environmental protection and national resilience, reinforcing the policy relevance of solutions that operate at scale.

Since its launch in 2020, Yindii reports registering more than 700,000 users, referred to internally as “food heroes”. Cumulatively, the platform has helped rescue over 900,000 meals and prevent more than 2,250 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Looking ahead

Looking to 2026, Yindii plans to expand into additional cities, including South Korea, while deepening its presence in existing markets. The company says its priority is to make surplus food rescue a default behaviour rather than a niche activity.

“Our goal is to make it easier for people to save great food rather than see it go to waste, and for businesses to treat surplus as an opportunity rather than a loss,” Mahima said. She added that the wider ambition is community-driven. “It is about building a community where strangers become food heroes and where food that once represented loss becomes a source of joy and connection.”

As governments and businesses search for practical ways to cut emissions while easing cost pressures on households, Yindii’s 2025 results suggest that food waste reduction can deliver tangible benefits on multiple fronts. The challenge ahead will be maintaining momentum as the platform enters new markets and proving that surplus food rescue can become a permanent feature of urban food systems rather than a stopgap solution.