Too Good To Go: A Marketplace for Surplus Food to Combat Waste

What is Too Good To Go?

TOO GOOD TO GO is a SOCIAL IMPACT COMPANY ON A MISSION TO INSPIRE AND EMPOWER EVERYONE TO FIGHT FOOD WASTE TOGETHER. The app is the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food, connecting people to local stores, cafes, and restaurants offering unsold meals. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2016, this mobile application has grown into a movement that rescues perfectly good food, turning what might have been thrown away into valuable, affordable meals. It is all about turning everyday actions into a collective impact against food waste – every swipe on the app is a small win for the planet.

Main Benefits and Key Figures

Too Good To Go offers more than just an app; it provides an opportunity to benefit from surplus food at a fraction of the cost while significantly lowering environmental impact. The key figures and facts speak for themselves:

• ENJOY GOOD FOOD AT ½ PRICE OR LESS
• RESCUE FOOD NEAR YOU
• HELP THE ENVIRONMENT BY REDUCING FOOD WASTE
• TRY SOMETHING NEW FROM LOCAL CAFES, BAKERIES, OR RESTAURANTS
• Over 120 million registered users worldwide
• More than 500 million meals saved from waste
• 180,000 active business partners in 21 countries, including ALDI, Greggs, Starbucks and Pret
• BCorp score of 93.4 attesting to its social impact commitment

How Does the App Work?

Using Too Good To Go is as simple as it is effective. The process flows naturally, almost like a conversation with a friend who just knows the best local spots:

STEP ONE – Discover Surprise Bags available at stores and restaurants near you. Just browse, and the best surplus food finds pop up like little treasures awaiting rescue…

STEP TWO – Confirm a choice, reserve your food, and pay through the app. A couple of clicks and a tap secure your meal.

STEP THREE – Head to the shop at the specified pickup time, swipe the app, and enjoy the delicious result.

STEP FOUR – At this point, not only has a tasty meal been enjoyed, but a significant contribution has been made to the fight against food waste.

Extra Features and Offerings

There is more on offer than just the standard app experience. Too Good To Go has expanded its horizons to serve various needs and help parties of all sizes reduce waste. With features like TOO GOOD TO GO PARCELS, users can order parcels of surplus food directly from manufacturers or wholesalers, delivered right to their homes. The service also includes the innovative SURPRISE BAGS concept – think of it as unlocking extra revenue from unsold food, with the convenience of a pre-determined in-store pickup time. Meanwhile, the TOO GOOD TO GO PLATFORM acts as an end-to-end surplus food management solution for retailers, enabling them to seamlessly track, manage, and redistribute their surplus. On top of all this, the DATE LABELLING INITIATIVE aims to reduce household waste by introducing labels that say ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ on billions of Best Before products, collaborating with several leading brands.

A Social Movement Against Food Waste

Beyond the digital features and marketplace dynamics, Too Good To Go is at the heart of a broader societal movement. The company’s core mission is simple yet inspiring: empower every individual to take a stand against food waste. It isn’t just about saving meals; it’s about changing behaviors at all levels – households, businesses, schools, and public affairs. This approach not only prevents edible food from ending up in landfills but also drives a positive change in consumer habits and corporate practices. It is a reminder that everyday food choices contribute directly to environmental and social wellbeing… It’s a dynamic, grassroots spread of ideas where a community of over 180,000 businesses stands shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight against waste.

Everything Goes Beyond the App

The movement has blossomed to influence policies and spark conversations about sustainable practices worldwide. By connecting customers with suppliers of unsold, surplus food, Too Good To Go is reshaping what it means to consume responsibly. There is an infectious energy in knowing that not a single meal is in vain – every rescued meal is a step forward in the journey to a zero waste future. The conversational tone and casual charm of the app make this journey feel familiar, almost like catching up with an old friend who always has great news to share about saving the world, one meal at a time.

Impact on Sustainable Development Goals

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – By tackling food waste head-on, the initiative directly feeds the global goal of promoting sustainable consumption.

Looking Forward to a Waste-Free Future

The story of Too Good To Go is as much about technology as it is about humanity. It transforms an everyday challenge – surplus food – into an opportunity for meaningful change. With every parcel ordered and every Surprise Bag redeemed, there’s a shared sense of accomplishment that echoes far beyond a simple transaction. The casual, engaging approach invites everyone to join a conversation that matters, a dialogue driven by impact, creativity, and collective effort. It is a clear reminder that the pursuit of a circular economy and zero waste is not just an idealistic dream, but an achievable reality when communities unite. As the fight against food waste marches forward, it sparks hope and inspires action – one bite, one rescued meal, and one bold step towards a brighter, more sustainable tomorrow.

What Too Good To Go actually does

Too Good To Go runs the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food. Stores, cafes, bakeries and restaurants list unsold food as Surprise Bags at half price or less. Users reserve and pay in the app, then collect in store at a set pickup time, so food that would have been binned at closing gets eaten instead.

Behind the consumer app sit three business tools. The Too Good To Go Platform is modular software that helps grocery retailers track, manage and redistribute surplus. Parcels turns manufacturer and wholesaler surplus that never reaches a shop shelf into home-delivered boxes. The Date Labelling Initiative puts a ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ label next to Best Before dates on billions of products, so households stop throwing away food that is still good.

Where surplus food gets rescued

• Food retail and grocery: supermarkets sell end-of-day stock as Surprise Bags, and grocery chains can run the Platform software across their stores.
• Food service and catering: cafes, bakeries and restaurant chains turn closing-time leftovers into revenue and extra footfall.
• Manufacturing and wholesale: overproduced or short-dated stock is packed into Parcels and delivered straight to app users.
• FMCG brands: brands join the Date Labelling coalition to cut waste in the home, after the sale.

Proof, not just claims

The app counts over 120 million registered users and 180,000 active business partners in 21 countries. In Too Good To Go’s own October 2022 in-app survey, 41% of customers bought additional items when collecting a Surprise Bag, and 61% visited the store only because of their collection.

Trusted by

Why this belongs on a sustainability directory

SDG 12 target 12.3 calls for halving per capita food waste at retail and consumer level by 2030. Too Good To Go works on both halves of that target: Surprise Bags, Parcels and the Platform keep surplus moving at retail and supply chain level, while the Look-Smell-Taste label changes what households throw out. Every bag sold is food that already exists, so the water, land and emissions that went into producing it are not wasted on a landfill.