According to Zero Waste Europe, one-third of all food produced today ends up in a rubbish bin, where it is at best fed to animals or recycled, and at worst is sent to landfill or incineration. Not only does this issue pose serious ethical and social questions, but it also deeply threatens the environment. The average citizen wastes almost 100 kg of food each year, and the financial waste of those products rounds up to 150 billion euro per year!
That’s a problem Too Good To Go deals with. By creating a system where leftovers from restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and bakeries are sold at a lower price, the goal is to generate revenue from food that would have
otherwise been wasted.
After downloading the Too Good To Go app, users have access to a range of meals available nearby. They can either view what’s closer to them, or search for meals with different options, such as collection time, location or type of food, such as American, Italian, or even vegan. Once they select their option, users get a receipt that needs to be presented in the shop in order to receive the food bag. Usually, the food in the bag costs up to 3 times less than it would’ve if served in the restaurant.
As a result, after 3,5 years since launch, Too Good To Go has saved 29 million meals from the bin, resulting in 66,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas
emissions avoided.
Sources: https://zerowasteeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/zero_waste_europe_CS7_CP_TooGoodToGo_en.pdf
Food waste is a global problem. Meanwhile hundreds of millions people suffers from hunger, we still are wasting so much food. I think that the TO GOOD TO GO app is definitely a wonderful idea, not only the restaurants/shops don’t sustain that much loss, but the most important think is that we prevent food loss. I also think that it’s worth to mention that many people think it’s mostly restaurants and shops that are responsible for most of the food waste, but actually more than 50% of food waste takes place in our homes (according to researches). It sounds bad, but at least there’s much we can do about it! Uneaten food also puts unneeded strain on the environment by wasting valuable resources like water and farmland and of course in terms of the environment it’s really damaging. Reducing food waste by just 15 percent could provide enough sustenance to feed more than 25 million people, annually. If we think about it like that, I think we can clearly see the problem with food wasting and how important it is to prevent it with ideas just like TOO GOOD TO GO.
This is a great app! I used it throughout my travel around Europe last summer, and it was a real lifesaver. Whenever I was short on cash, I could look up the nearest too good to go spot and get a decent meal for a low price while also contributing to lowering food waste. I think that such an app can make a change because of the really good deals in their offer and convenient ordering process. Hopefully, it will continue to grow and make the situation better both for customers and suppliers of food.
The idea is good, but it did not suit me at all. I like to control my purchases and not get surprises that I usually have to eat on the same day. The hours of collecting the package, which is usually between 12 and 14, are also a big problem for me.