Peekabox hits 1,000 stores in 4 weeks, then targets Saudi after $1.5M raise

Peekabox, the UAE food waste platform, has signed more than 1,000 stores across over 40 brands and attracted 80,000 users within four weeks of launch. That is a big early signal for a business built on a deceptively simple idea: retailers sell surplus food through discounted “surprise boxes” instead of watching it become landfill.

Founder and CEO Hasan Sarwar frames the hard part as not the technology, but the trust problem. He told Arabian Business that securing partnerships with major retail and food and beverage operators before launch was one of Peekabox’s biggest challenges, because at that stage partners are not buying the product. They are buying into the founder and whether the company can execute. Peekabox raised $1.5 million in funding to build that execution engine.

So what exactly are those “surprise boxes”? The model, popular in Europe, lets consumers purchase discounted bundles of unsold food at savings of between 50 and 70 percent. Importantly, customers cannot select specific items and quantities, and orders are collected directly from participating stores at designated times. That bundle format is not a small operational detail. It is the product design that helps retailers stay comfortable while still unlocking revenue.

Peekabox partners with retailers, supermarkets, coffee chains and restaurants to help businesses generate revenue from inventory that would otherwise be discarded. Its partner network includes major operators such as Union Coop, Costa Coffee and Tim Hortons. The company has also added newer brands including Barakat, Brunch & Cake, Bakerist and Roasters. If you are an operator, the pitch is straightforward: incremental revenue from stock that previously produced no return, while aligning with sustainability and food waste reduction goals.

Sarwar’s logic also addresses a historic blocker: many retailers have been cautious about discounting. The reasons are familiar to anyone running margins and brand perception. Discounting can risk training customers to wait for sales, and it can cannibalize full-price purchases. Peekabox’s response is baked into the format. Because customers cannot choose specific items and quantities remain limited, the system is designed to reduce the risk of customers “shopping around” for particular discounted SKUs. As Sarwar put it, “These were items heading for the bin at zero return. We turn that into real incremental revenue.”

Where is the demand strongest? Peekabox says its top-performing category is grocery, with discounted meal bags and household staples frequently selling out in advance. Bakeries are emerging as another key growth segment, particularly as consumers look for greater value amid rising food prices. That matters because it suggests the platform is not purely a feel-good sustainability play. It is also an affordability play, which can widen the customer base during periods when household budgets get tighter.

Looking at the scale target, Peekabox believes the opportunity in the UAE is substantial and is targeting between one and three percent of the country’s food waste over the next three to five years through a combination of consumer sales and new business-to-business initiatives. The company is also exploring partnerships with Ne’ma, the UAE’s national food loss and waste initiative, as it seeks to scale impact. For executives, that is a signal that the company sees regulatory and institutional alignment as part of the path to expansion, not just marketing.

To grow, Peekabox is developing AI-powered surplus prediction technology to help retailers forecast unsold inventory and improve pricing decisions throughout the day. The company believes that could eventually enable more dynamic pricing for products approaching end of shelf life, reducing waste before it occurs. Meanwhile, the near-term strategy is clear: expand across the UAE and deepen relationships with existing partners. Saudi Arabia is on the radar, with Riyadh and Jeddah described as a significantly larger market opportunity than the UAE, but Sarwar says the business intends to refine its model locally before entering the Kingdom. “We want to export a proven model rather than experiment,” he said. For operators, the second-order implication is that if Peekabox turns surplus into measurable revenue while supporting sustainability goals, then dynamic inventory monetization may become a competitive requirement, not a niche program.