How to eat better food, spend less, and feel good about it - with Michal Garvey from Foodprint

How to eat better food, spend less, and feel good about it - with Michal Garvey from Foodprint

From Making Cents by Frances Cook

April 5, 2026 · 47 min

About this episode

Frances Cook interviews Michal Garvey about saving money on food while maintaining quality and understanding the implications of food waste and budgeting.

You can cancel subscriptions, ditch takeaway coffee, and trim your budget… but you still have to eat. And the way most of us shop for food? It’s costing us more than it should. In this episode of Making Cents, Frances Cook talks to Michal Garvey, founder of Foodprint, the app that’s redirected millions of dollars’ worth of surplus food from cafés and restaurants into the hands of everyday Kiwis, at a fraction of the price. But this isn’t just about cheaper meals. Michal shares a different way to think about food, money, and the cost of living, including the common food budgeting mistake most people don’t realise they’re making, and why it’s leaving money on the table. We also get into the link between your grocery bill and the survival of small businesses, how much food cafés are actually throwing away each year, and what that waste is really costing them. Not to mention, what all of this says about New Zealand’s food system, supply chains, and long-term food security? If you want to spend less on food, eat well, and understand what’s really driving food prices, this episode is for you. In this episode, we cover: How to save money on food without cutting quality The biggest food…

People in this episode

Host: Frances Cook

Guest: Michal Garvey

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Foodprint

Places: New Zealand

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