TOO GOOD TO GO

How Too Good To Go is working with its partners to help turn surplus food into extra sales and achieve sustainability goals.

How It Began

Founded in 2015, Too Good To Go was born from a desire to create a simpler and more accessible way to fight food waste. Through exploring the impact technology could have in this space, Too Good To Go saved its first meal in Copenhagen in March 2016. The creation of their app has created a system where surplus food from restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and bakeries etc can be sold at lower prices and in a way that helps prevent unnecessary food waste.

The mission behind Too Good To Go has remained the same since its inception; to inspire and empower everyone to take action against food waste together. The app itself was first and foremost designed in response to the fact that as a global society, we throw away over one-third of the food that is produced. Food waste is responsible for 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions - which is more than the aviation industry.

Initially focused on eliminating food waste in the hospitality industry, the business has now developed to tackle greater waste ambitions; from producers and wholesalers to supermarkets and convenience stores to large chains or independent market stalls - and everything in between.

Today, the business has 13.2 million users in the UK alone and proudly works with over 130,000 food partners across 17 marketplaces, including some of the biggest players in the UK food industry like Carrefour, Aldi, Starbucks, Morrisons, Costa Coffee, Greggs, Mitchells & Butlers, PAUL Group and many more. This includes 26,516 in the UK. Through some of these key partnerships they saved nearly 44 million meals in 2022 alone, equivalent to avoiding emissions similar to flying 500,000 passengers from London to Berlin. They also recently hit a UK specific milestone of 27 million meals saved since launch.

How It Works

Too Good To Go is a free app that provides a simple way for businesses to sell their surplus, unsold food. It allows businesses to update the app to show how much leftover food they have available, while customers can search for local stores to purchase food via the app and then collect at a time of their choice. Rather than listing individual portions of food, businesses fill a ‘Surprise Bag’ with food that hasn’t sold in time, setting a reduced price that’s fair for them and the customer.

The benefits of the app go beyond preventing food waste alone. TGTG pride themselves on their “win win win” proposition where the app allows businesses to attract new customers through technology, financially recover otherwise sunk costs, while also allowing simplicity and flexibility for customers - essentially creating a food waste tool that everyone can carry in their pocket. It also allows stores to meet their sustainability and CSR commitments in a simple and accessible way.

Too Good To Go is focused on supporting and guiding businesses along their food waste journey. All businesses joining the platform are in direct communication with Too Good To Go support teams and receive tailored individual store support throughout their journey. They receive onboarding training sessions; regular check-ins and all customer enquiries are handled by the Too Good To Go team via the app - helping to ensure a smooth and positive experience for both parties.

Businesses also benefit from Too Good To Go’s dedicated data and market analysis which helps to provide unique insight and identify ways in which businesses can better optimise their operations and avoid potential food waste. These tools and insights are also used to help identify which new stores would most benefit from joining the plat- form, allowing them to grow their business and partnerships in a meaningful way.

For businesses who choose to use Too Good To Go, the motivations behind joining the platform are numerous and range from reducing the environmental impacts of food waste, to enhancing general functioning costs and upholding corporate social responsibility guidelines. In most cases, the motivation is all of these combined.

Beyond The App

Too Good To Go sees firsthand the challenges that come with misinformation and confusion around food waste. Alongside providing customers with easy solutions through the power of tech, they have also focused on educating and supporting customers on broader education on the issue.

Too Good To Go has also committed to addressing the food waste challenge that arises from confusion surrounding date labels. In the EU alone, 50% of consumers indicate being confused by the difference between “use by”, “best before” and “sell by’’. The misinterpretation of which is responsible for 10% of the food wasted in the EU (EC, 2018).

Since 2019, Too Good To Go has partnered with some of the world’s leading consumer goods companies including Arla, Nestle, Danone, Onken and more, to incorporate its ‘Look Smell Taste’ label on products. These labels aim to educate consumers that a product past its best-before date can still be edible. Therefore, encouraging people to trust their senses and assess the food based on its ‘look, smell and taste’ before wasting it.

During 2022, the Too Good To Go date label could be found in 1.7 billion products in 13 markets across Europe, with 465 different brands using them. A number that has dramatically increased in 2023.

Raising Awareness

Too Good To Go knows that while using the app is an important and easy step to take towards reducing our food waste, it’s not enough on its own. More needs to be done to raise awareness on the important role reduced food waste has to play in tackling climate change and securing a more sustainable future.

Project Drawdown, the world’s leading resource for climate solutions, indicated in its 2020 review paper that reducing food waste is the number one solution to combat climate change, which is why Too Good To Go continues to make an impact on waste across the entire food system from production to consumption.

The company’s co-founder Jamie Crummie has acknowledged that “one of the most important things we can all do is raise awareness of how our food waste is impacting the planet, and to improve our understanding of where our food comes from”.

Too Good To Go raises awareness by introducing users to a more sustainable lifestyle and gives them a greater understanding about the value of food. Shining a light on the impact that food waste has on climate change and the important role it has to play in building a more sustainable future is a key ambition for Too Good To Go and its founders. Jamie has reaffirmed the company’s commitment by stating, “much like how removing single use plastics rose up the agenda, we’re looking to ensure that reducing food waste is always on the table when talking about how we’re going to tackle climate change”.

As a fast growing company, the app has seen significant uptake since launching and as new innovations are set to be introduced with a desire to become a true end-to-end solution for businesses, Too Good To Go has ambitious plans for the future. They recently acquired Food Memo as part of this strategy and, the team are now looking at expansion possibilities within Europe and beyond in their quest for a future free of food waste. c