‘Tis the Season to Save Money, Reduce Food Waste and Support Those in Need With Hellmann’s ‘Fridge Night’

For every meal made via the Fridge Night experience, Hellmann’s will donate a meal to those in need via Second Harvest

TORONTO, Nov. 15, 2021 /CNW/ – Household waste volumes double in the week after Christmas in Canada¹, with municipal authorities reporting whole turkeys and mountains of baked goods and leftovers found in the garbage following the break. To help Canadians be more resourceful with their food and waste less around the holidays (and beyond) Hellmann’s Canada has today announced the launch of a new initiative called ‘Fridge Night‘ – a free, easy, digital app proven to help Canadians reduce household food waste by a third², be more resourceful in the kitchen and save, time, money and the planet.

Rooted in behavioural science, Fridge Night features a series of fun, weekly challenges hosted by Chef Andy Hay, finalist from MasterChef Canada, Season Seven All Stars, to help Canadians create delicious meals from the food they can find in the fridge and pantry. Users will embark on a 4-week mission, where they will establish a ‘Use-Up Day’ and master Hellmann’s Flexipe 3+1 approach – a simple flexible recipe framework that uses everyday ingredients typically found in the kitchen or pantry to create a delicious meal: a carbohydrate base, most-wasted vegetables or fruit, a source of protein, plus a magic touch of spices or a sauce to bring the dish together.

“We know most people don’t set out to waste food, but sometimes life just gets in the way, and so we launched Hellmann’s Fridge Night to offer a simple, fun and scientifically proven way to help Canadians reduce food waste in the home” says Kristen Denega, Senior Brand Manager, Hellmann’s Canada. “As a brand that reaches millions of homes through our products, we believe we have a responsibility and an opportunity to help Canadians be more resourceful with their food and waste less, and are excited to introduce this new, digital approach to tackling food waste, supporting our global mission to inspire more than 100 million people to waste less food each year.”

For every mission completed, users can earn rewards, including up to $10 off Unilever products, including Hellmann’s through U Shop. And, as an extension of Hellmann’s ongoing partnership with Second Harvest, for every meal completed within the app, Hellmann’s will also be donating a meal, on users’ behalf, to those in need via Second Harvest, up to 25,000 meals in total.

“Being resourceful with our food is a fun, creative and delicious challenge and there are enormous benefits to the planet when we keep edible food out of landfill,” said Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest. “What’s great about Hellmann’s Fridge Night is that the no-waste meals you put on your table can have a positive impact on the environment while also helping to put meals on the tables of people in need – that’s an inspiring combination.”

Weekly Challenges within the Fridge Night app, hosted by Chef Andy Hay, include:

• 10 Meals in a minute’ Challenge – learn to see more meals in your fridge than you think. Can you spot 10 meals in one minute?
• The Mystery Ingredient Change Up – Get creative by replacing an item in a Flexipe with a new ingredient of your choosing.
• The Kid Judges – Learn how to counteract even the pickiest of eaters. Can you impress the kid judges?
• Fakeout in 15 – Learn how to make your favourite takeout orders with what you have on hand. Can you create a Fakeout in 15 minutes?

Participants can also engage with other Fridge Night users within a Community forum on the app, to share tips and tricks, recipe hacks and images of their delicious meals created within the Fridge Night experience.

Earlier this year, Hellmann’s partnered with behavioural scientists BEworks and other global experts to conduct one of the longest and largest consumer behaviour change studies on household food waste, with 1000 Canadian families. Fridge Night is rooted in the findings from this study, which showed that simple changes like adopting a Use-Up Day each week and using Hellmann’s Flexipes reduced food waste by a third³, to provide a digital solution to help people become more resourceful with their food. Following the launch in Canada, Hellmann’s plans to roll out the app in other markets including the US and UK in 2022.

Hellmann’s Fridge Night is free to download on both iOS and Android. For more information visit www.hellmanns.com/ca/en/fridgenight.html

About Unilever North America

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Dove, Hellmann’s, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Love Beauty and Planet, Magnum, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond’s, Popsicle, Pure Leaf, Q-tips, Seventh Generation, Simple, Sir Kensington’s, St. Ives, Suave, Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto, TAZO, TIGI, TRESemmé and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca

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¹ Hoornweg, D., Bhada-Tata, P. & Kennedy, C. Environment: Waste production must peak this century. Nature 502, 615–617 (2013)https://doi.org/10.1038/502615a

² Hellmann’s Fridge Night Digital Pilot Programme carried out between June-July 2021 in Canada

³ Hellmann’s and BEworks research conducted in November 2020 amongst Canadian families

SOURCE Hellmann’s Canada