GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Inside Indiana Business) – Meijer is now allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits to be used for the Flashfood program, the grocery retailer announced this week. The program allows customers to purchase food that’s nearing its sell-by date at a deep discount.

The Michigan-based retailer, which has more than three dozen stores throughout Indiana, said in a news release customers with SNAP benefits can use the Flashfood app to pay for their orders using an Electronic Benefits Transfer card.

Meijer said it is the first retailer nationwide to allow SNAP benefits to be used for the Flashfood program.

“As a company committed to enriching lives in the communities we serve, we’re pleased to be the first retailer to expand our Flashfood program in this way,” Meijer CEO Rick Keyes said in written remarks. “Feeding people has always been at the heart of what we do, and this is another way Meijer is working to provide extra value to those customers who need it most.”

Flashfood is an independent company that was created with the goal of reducing food waste and making fresh food more accessible. In addition to Meijer, the company has partnered with many other grocery brands, such as HyVee, Giant Eagle and Martin’s Supermarkets.

Meijer began its partnership with Flashfood in November 2019 in Detroit and has since expanded it to all of its supercenters and grocery stores. The company said it has diverted nearly 5.6 million pounds of food from potentially entering landfills.

Meijer has more than 500 locations throughout Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.