Every month, The Groundbreakers puts an inspiring initiative, product or company in the spotlight. By sharing knowledge and inspiration, we want to stimulate sustainable developments and hope to contribute to the greening of business. This time we would like to inform the company Too Good To Go out. This app is committed to combating food waste.

The story of Too Good To Go

Have you ever heard the saying “One man's trash is another man's treasure?”, that's exactly what Too Good To Go stands for. This brilliant company, founded in 2016, is now active in 17 countries. The organization aims to combat food waste by rescuing unsold food from restaurants and supermarkets before it ends up in the trash. Because did you know that almost 40% of all food is thrown away?

The idea is simple: restaurants and supermarkets offer their unsold food at a discounted price so that users of the Too Good To Go app can buy it. This way they get a tasty meal for a fraction of the normal price, while the food is not wasted.

“Food waste is a problem, we provide a solution. With the Too Good To Go app you save unsold food at your favorite places from an unfortunate fate.”

Let’s talk numbers

In the Netherlands, To Good To Go has already had a significant impact. With almost 4 million users and more than 9,500 participating stores and restaurants, they have already saved 19 million meals that would otherwise have been thrown away. On their website, the company states that 1kg of food (which is equivalent to 1 Too Good To Go Box) is equivalent to 2.5kg of CO2. And did you know that this is equivalent to charging your phone 442 times? So with 19 million meals rescued, we thought this was quite an impressive result! In this way, To Good To Go makes a positive contribution to the fight against climate change.

Puzzling expiration dates

What is the difference between 'best before' and 'use by'? Too Good To Go, together with more than half of the consumers, thought this was very vague terms. Misinterpreting these terms caused 10% of food waste in Europe. That is why the company has launched a campaign for an additional label. The look, smell, taste before you waste label. In 2021, 11 countries already use the label. In Denmark, 43% of users were inspired to throw away less food at home after seeing this label.

Food waste at events

Even caterers can register with Too Good To Go! Have you ever thought about working with your catering company to offer excess food after your event via the app? We will certainly look at how we as event professionals can use this fantastic company to reduce food waste and thus make an even more sustainable impact!

Want to know more about To Good To Go? Go to toogoodtogo.com