Waste not spend not

Apps such as Too Good To Go are now a popular way of saving food retailers’ surplus stock from the bin. Regular user Isobel Lewis asks if they’re truly effective, or a superficial fix

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A woman sits in her kitchen, showing off the contents of her bag in a video she’s filming for TikTok. Her excitement permeates through the screen as she babbles about the “rare find” she’s picked up, as though she’s about to show off an incredible handbag from a vintage shop or designer piece picked up on sale. But no; the bag she hoists onto the table is made of paper and comes from Pret a Manger, although the fervour with which she pulls out a porridge pot, a cheese and tomato croissant, and a savoury breakfast dish implies a far more high-end offering.

The video maker jokes that she got an “adrenaline rush” picking up this bag for just £3, and laughs, but I totally know what she means. The excitement of picking up a bag purchased through Too Good To Go, a popular app that allows its users to pick up so-called “mystery bags” of surplus food from retailers for a reduced price, is something I know well. I’ve been using Too Good To Go since I moved to London six years ago, and in that time have got some cracking deals on everything from fresh pasta to crates of beer cans. It’s an app I check and use often, one that means my freezer is always stocked up with really good bread and fancy pastries for a fraction of their retail cost.

Founded in Copenhagen in 2015, Too Good To Go was invented with one clear intention: fighting food waste for the sake of the planet and its people. For many of us, the idea of surplus food going to waste, particularly in a time when so many cannot afford to feed themselves and their kids, feels particularly galling, yet it’s estimated that a third of the world’s food produced every year is binned. Over a decade, the company has amassed 100 million registered users and saved more than 400 million meals, with 175,000 retailers across the globe signing up to sell their excess food.