Too Good To Go app helps sell surplus food at discounted prices

ISTANBUL

Food left unsold at the end of the day is being rescued from waste and offered at affordable prices through the Denmark-based app Too Good To Go, offering a solution to one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

According to the UN Environment Program (UNEP), more than 1 billion tons of food are wasted globally each year, causing nearly $1 trillion in economic losses and accounting for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

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’

Speaking to Anadolu, Too Good To Go CEO Mette Lykke said food waste has a major environmental impact.

“We throw away 40% of all the food we produce in the world, and that's actually responsible for almost 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions,” Lykke said. “So the environmental impact is huge.”

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.