Unsold surplus food in good condition from restaurants is being given a second life at discounted prices through Denmark-based app Too Good To Go, which aims to curb food waste by tackling one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

More than 1 billion tonnes of food are wasted globally each year, causing nearly $1 trillion in economic losses and accounting for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Founded in 2015 by a group of young entrepreneurs in Copenhagen, Too Good To Go allows restaurants and food businesses to sell surplus food instead of throwing it away.

Users can reserve unsold items through the app at reduced prices and collect them directly from partner businesses.

‘The environmental impact is huge’

Too Good To Go Chief Executive Mette Lykke told Anadolu that food waste has a significant environmental impact. “Around 40% of all food produced globally is thrown away, accounting for nearly 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental impact is enormous” Lykke said.

How the app works

Explaining how the app works, she said users can view food that restaurants expect to have left at the end of the day and reserve it at a discounted price.

“You can see what is the food that our stores and partners expect to have left by the end of the day,” she said. "Then you reserve that food and you make a great deal, and then you go and pick it up.”

Rapid expansion and future plans

The company says it has helped prevent more than 400 million meals from being wasted, avoiding an estimated 1.1 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions.

Over the past decade, Too Good To Go has expanded across Europe and North America, reaching more than 100 million users in 19 countries and partnering with around 180,000 businesses.

Lykke said the platform currently operates in 16 countries across Europe, covering all of Western Europe as well as Poland and the Czech Republic, and is also available in the US, Canada and Australia, with Japan set to join next.

“We know food waste is a universal problem, and it also looks like Too Good to Go can be applied in many countries,” she added.

Marcel Müglich, a user of the app in Sweden, said his experiences have been consistently positive and hassle-free.
“It definitely helps the environment, as much of the food sold through the app would otherwise be thrown away,” Müglich said. “Many businesses say regulations require them to discard it, so enabling restaurants to sell edible food instead improves efficiency and reduces waste.”

Daniel Martinez, who uses the app in Spain, also said it has delivered positive results overall and provided him with financial savings.

Martinez noted that users cannot see the quality of the food until after purchase, which he described as a drawback, adding that the quality of items obtained through the app varies by restaurant and can still end up being discarded if it is poor.

Guillermina Blanco said she mainly uses the app to take advantage of bakery offers, adding that pastries and desserts are practical for gatherings with friends. Blanco said the app contributes to a family’s daily life but noted that users sometimes have to discard items that are not satisfactory.