(WXYZ) — As part of our ongoing Smart Shopper series, I'm letting you in on a smart shopper's best-kept secret, an app called Flashfood.
It's an app where participating grocery stores will list foods that are set to expire soon and put them on sale for sale for pennies on the dollar.
In one instance, I saw, there was a block of brie cheese for half-off.
Watch below: Smart Shopper: How local stores are providing deals on produce & meat
Dozens of stores in Michigan are on board, but there's one problem: it seems like no one knows about the app. Many people I talked to had never heard of it.
"Well, you know, Kiara, I’m not sure that’s not intentional because shoppers, they want the deal," CEO Nicholas Bertram said.
Bertram tells me 80,000 people are using the app in Michigan. Last year, people saved $4.4 million, but he said many people won't discuss it.
"They lose some of the deals if their neighbor gets on the app as well," Bertram said.
Watch below: Smart shopper: How you can save when buying snacks as prices continue to rise
When an item goes live on the app, it's first-come-first-serve. Inside a particular Meijer location, the workers at customer service told me the people who know use the app often.
"Is this something you would be interested in if you knew about it?" I asked Charles.
"I'm the fourth of 10 siblings and so we never wasted food. We know what it's like to be without food, so I am never for seeing food go into the dumpster," he said.
More deals on the app, when I checked, include a produce box for $5, a salad bowl with avocado on sale for 50% off and some oranges for just 62 cents. Pickup was near the customer service area.
