In every part of the world food is wasted – for different reasons and under different circumstances. The most food is wasted by the United States, where the food waste amounted to 126 million tons per year, which is about 415 kg per person. Unfortunately they are not the only ones – in Europe a lot of food is being thrown away as well.
According to the CEFO, the people in Poland threw away about 9 million tons of food in 2017, which yields in 247 kg per head. A statistic from 2018 stated that 42 % of Polish citizens admitted that the threw away food, especially bread, fruits and meat products. Most of the time because the food exceeded the best-before date.
End consumers are not the only ones to blame for the very high food waste. It often starts with production, for example through poor harvesting or processing methods or even more banal reasons such as visual defects. Before the food is sold to the final consumer, there are also many causes of food waste due to handling and storage of food, such as rough handling during loading and unloading or incorrect handling of food. All the above-mentioned problems are reasons for food wastage by private end consumers, restaurants, supermarkets, etc.
Reducing food waste is one of the most important things we can do to fight climate change. – Chad Frischmann, Climate Change Expert.
Too Good to Go is the world’s largest B2C marketplace for surplus food. The company was founded in Denmark in 2015 and serves to sell surplus food from supermarkets and restaurants to customers. It now operates in over 900 cities in Europe, including Warsaw and Berlin and has over 9.5 million users.
The goal of Too Good to Go is to bring surplus food in surprise boxes to the private consumers at a lower price, resulting in a win-win situation for both sides. The shops don’t have to discard the leftovers, can present themselves as sustainable and the customers save money and can enjoy cakes, food and co.
Too Good to Go works as an application which can be easily downloaded on the smartphone. While you specify which city you are in, the app gives you an incredible number of places to save food. The app is divided into categories, such as baked goods, lunch or dinner, and shows the pick-up time and price, so that there are no surprises when you get there. The price depends on the shop, mostly the customers pay between 3.50€ and 4.50€, which is about a third of the original price. Most of the time you can pick up the so-called Magic Bags (sometimes you can also participate in the selection yourself) after closing time.
The payment is processed via the app before the pick-up and Too Good to Go takes about 20 per cent commission per transaction. Since its founding, the company earned 16 million euros and could save over 10 million food packs from being wasted.
If you want to contribute to making the world a little bit better, download the app and save food that is too good to be thrown away. The app is easy to use and you get something for your next dinner for a small price. As mentioned before, a lot of shops in Warsaw take part and you can pick up a Magic bag at a Green Cafe Nero or Starbucks next to you. A little advice: the offers are highly requested and often sell out quickly, so make sure you place your order in time!
Sources:
https://businessinsider.com.pl/wiadomosci/marnowanie-zywnosci-w-polsce/1fkhng5