Food waste app connects sellers with consumers

Too Good to Go says it has saved 20 million meals from the trash since its launch

Spotted: Danish app Too Good to Go connects consumers with restaurants and stores that want to sell food that would normally be discarded at a big discount. Offerings include baked goods that need to be made fresh every day and meals from buffet restaurants that prepared an excess of food. 

Customers that use the app can order a “magic bag” of discounted surplus food from a store near them, and then collect it near closing time. The app has more than 25,000 different stores registered on its app, offering food discounted as much as 70 per cent, and operates in 12 countries in Europe and the UK. 

The stores benefit from earning something on food that would otherwise be thrown away, and consumers save money. The app has also recently expanded from bakeries and restaurants to include supermarkets. This is allowing the app to scale up and provide people with cheaper groceries, as well as prepared meals.

The drive to improve food sustainability has caught on in a big way. At Springwise, we have been closely following this trend, spotting innovations that include a supermarket “happy hour” and the expansion of urban, rooftop farms.