We gave a voice to food products themselves to talk about the problem in supermarkets, where food loss takes place.

We added a teary-eyed character crying out “Take me with you! Or they’ll throw me away” to existing price-discount stickers. By appealing to people’s empathy, we got people to “rescue” food.

-We ran a pilot project in a store with the Tokyo city government. We also held a press conference at the Tokyo Press Club, which gained extensive media coverage and generated a buzz.

-Tokyo’s governor also endorsed the project at a regular press conference.

-In light of the program’s reception, Aeon Retail, Japan’s No. 1 general merchandise store operator, started rolling out the program to all its 380 stores.

-We invented a sustainable model that lets anyone easily help reduce food loss, benefiting sellers, shoppers, and society. Using PR to spread this model has transformed people’s awareness and behavior and triggered a social movement.

-During the in-store pilot project, 90 percent of shoppers and 100 percent of workers said they supported the initiative.

-The project earned an estimated 4 million dollars in media coverage in just the major media outlets. It also was also covered by many online news sites and went viral on social media.

-Aeon Retail, Japan’s No. 1 general merchandise store operator, is rolling out the program to all its 380 stores.

-We plan to expand the program to other retailers and local governments.