Founded in 2016, Too Good To Go is an app that allows people to buy leftovers from local shops, bakeries and restaurants. Based in Denmark and operating in 15 countries, Too Good To Go allows businesses to avoid food waste, a substantial contributor to greenhouse gases.
In the growing movement to reduce food waste, Too Good To Go stands out for its reach and popularity, saving more than 100,000 meals every day. For the buyer, the app is easy to use, operating on a very simple system: browses the offers advertised, select, make payments, then pick up in a pre-agreed window of time.
The food included is always a surprise, as it depends on what is actually leftover, and so may not be suitable for people with strong allergies or restrictive diets.
Too Good To Go’s food saving campaign extends beyond their app: they aim to encourage waste reduction at every level. As well as getting individuals and businesses involved, they have developed educational tools for every stage of the education system for teachers to access for free and aim to expand their advocacy to the national and international level by campaigning for relevant issues such as changing confusing expiry date labelling.
The app was born out of the wish to reduce food waste, and the founders’ idea to use technology to connect consumers and businesses to further this goal. The five original founders, Thomas Momsen, Stian Haanes Olesen, Adam Sigbrand, Brian Christensen, and Klaus Pedersen were soon joined by other European entrepreneurs who assisted them in the expansion beyond Denmark.
Too Good To Go’s website is itself an informative resource to learn about food waste, thanks to several pages dedicated to presenting the facts of the issue to people who are unaware of the extent of the problem.
Too Good To Go began operating in the US in September 2020 and is planning to continue expanding its reach in new countries and save more meals.
All images in this article are courtesy of Too Good To Go.
