Hungarian food rescue startup saves food worth eight billion forints

It was recalled that when the company was launched, restaurants, bakeries, shops and hotels sold unsold, but still good quality food at a discount through the platform, and later the service portfolio was expanded with new elements.

According to him, the expansion in Romania and the previous merger in the Czech Republic have now been successfully integrated into the operation. In addition to Bucharest, they are present in 20 other cities and are currently working on expanding national coverage with local retail partners. Munch’s market leadership position is stable in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which they intend to further strengthen with new services.

Albert Wettstein highlighted that the company’s focus this year is not on searching for new foreign markets, but on deepening operations in existing markets, as well as fine-tuning the Munch Market and Munch Club services introduced in Hungary and currently being tested abroad.

Regarding the latter, he said that more than 150 partners have joined the exclusive subscription program related to restaurant services launched in the capital last September, and nearly 20 thousand users have tried the service in Budapest, Szeged and Győr. Munch Club users are entitled to a number of discounts for a monthly fee, while the program provides restaurants with a more stable source of income.

As part of the business model change, Munch Market was launched in 2025, which significantly expanded the reach of the food rescue platform, created new markets, and is expected to become a rapidly growing business in the long term.

These include seasonal products, as well as test or smaller aesthetic products defective goods can also be found.

Munch Market previously operated as an intermediary platform, in a commission system, where partners sold directly on the platform. In the new model, the company now appears as both a trader and an aggregator: it collects stocks, oversees procurement and logistics, works with its own warehouse capacity, while delivery is carried out by a dedicated partner from the Fót headquarters.

Albert Wettstein pointed out that Munch Market has significant potential both from a business and sustainability perspective. A significant portion of orders come from rural areas, where supply is limited and food is often more expensive, so the more affordable, larger quantities available through national delivery are particularly attractive to them.

He added that the service model would be expanded to foreign markets in the future, but at the same time, the operation involves serious logistical and procurement challenges, which is why they are constantly developing their systems and optimizing their processes in order to keep prices low.

According to a report published by Nébih last fall, the amount of food ending up in the trash in Hungary decreased by a third between 2016 and 2024, from an average of 33.1 kilograms per capita to 21.5 kilograms per year. Albert Wettstein believed that they had also done their part in reducing food waste.

According to publicly available company data, Munch Europe Szolgáltató Kft. will have a loss of 656.7 million forints in 2024, with sales of 386.3 million forints.