New Williamsburg App Sells Food Restaurants Are About To Toss

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A new app wants to help Williamsburg to eat more waste.

YourLocal, a Scandinavian app that sells food restaurants would otherwise toss, will launch in Williamsburg next week, owners announced.

The app allows users to follow local shops and get notifications when they have excess food that would otherwise end up in the garbage. If you’re interested, you buy the food at a discounted price through the app then pick it up at the shop.

YourLocal will begin offering foods from five Williamsburg eateries that include Woops! — a macaron shop on Driggs Street — and GrassRoots Juicery on Graham Avenue, according to a press release.

The app makers chose New York City as the next place to expand because of the large amount of food wasted: researchers estimate the spends $180 million sending that food to landfills.

And they chose Williamsburg because the neighborhood seemed like the best place to find New Yorkers users willing to download a new app for eco-friendly local food, according to spokeswoman Maria Budtz.

"Williamsburg seemed like the perfect starting point, Budtz said. "It's a community oriented neighborhood when it comes to food/drink consumption."

Since the app’s launch in Copenhagen in 2015, YourLocal has signed up more than 150,000 users and a wide selection of Denmark's grocery stores, bakeries, fish shops, restaurants and take-out joints.

“The idea was to connect local shops and consumers in the fight against food waste,” according to the company website. “By following shops with the heart you will be notified every time there is money to save.”

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