Too Good To Go is a revolutionary-yet-no-brainer app that’s doing its part to combat a big problem in the world: food waste. A staggering 40% of edible food in the US is wasted every second of every day. To Good To Go is a community-focused app founded to connect its users to establishments with excess food that would otherwise go to waste. This allows consumers to purchase perfectly good food at discount prices, while business owners can unload excess goods at the end of the day. It’s truly a win-win situation for everyone, including the environment. Since its inception in 2016, the app is popping up in more communities and countries around the world. To date, Too Good To Go saves more than 100,000 meals on a daily basis. The eco-conscious group answered a few questions for Beyondish.
CEO Mette Lyke has a background in app building, but this is much more than that, as the app addresses a serious issue in the world. How did this idea come about and can you walk me through the beginning stages of building Too Good To Go?
The goal of the app is to reduce surplus food waste everywhere that it occurs. Our founders saw perfectly good food literally being thrown into a dumpster and asked why they couldn’t buy it. The store told them there were restrictions around selling surplus food and the app was born. Mette joined a bit more than a year later after hearing about the app from a consumer on a bus in Copenhagen and thought the concept was brilliant. She invested $100,000 and they asked her to come on as the company’s CEO.
Too Good to Go CEO Mette Lyke.
What has the trajectory of the company looked like, and what are the goals for its growth and building change in regards to food waste?
We were founded in Copenhagen in 2016, and the app is now live in 17 markets in Europe, Canada and the US. We are still in an expansion mode throughout the US, but rapidly growing and look to add nine more states this year. We will extend the work currently being done in Europe to change date labels, which account for a huge amount of unnecessary waste and we are always looking to add bigger partners at the grocery and big box level across the US.
While doing research for the story, I was shocked to learn some facts about food waste and its impact on our environment. How important is it for Too Good To Go to share these facts with the world?
It’s incredibly important. Knowledge and access to information about food waste is limited. We want consumers to understand the monetary and environmental impact of food waste as the primary contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and the fastest, most scalable solution to solving the climate crisis. But we also want consumers to get great food at a lower cost. Luckily, the app does both.
The app has 14 million users in Europe and has saved over 20 million meals to date. What does the growth of business look like for the US?
Too Good To Go actually has 83M users globally and has saved 303M meals from waste. Today, we save three meals every minute. In the US we have saved 9.5M meals from waste across 13,000 partners and we are only live in about half the country to date. Our expansion goals are ambitious, but achievable and will continue to work until every food selling business uses the app and every consumer has access to it.
Tell me about the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste – and Too Good to Go’s involvement in this initiative.
We have a longstanding relationship with many European governments to increase awareness around food loss. In France, for example, we work with the board of education to include food waste reduction strategies as part of the country’s primary curriculum. In the US and Canada we will be launching programs in the coming months to solve the date-labeling- misinformation problem. We are always looking for ways to optimize our message and our approach to working across jurisdictions and will continue to find and fuel practical solutions.
In 2022, Time named you as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies. What did that recognition mean to the company and its goals?
We are honored by the recognition because it means the work we’re doing resonates. But it doesn’t solve the need for further work to reduce food waste, which is a daily and hourly struggle. If recognition helps us to further our mission we accept it with open arms, and see it as further proof that our solution works.
You partner with some amazing companies, organizations and brands. How do these collaborations come about? Do they come to you, or do you do outreach? How can someone become involved?
We have a full-time sales team across the country who are always working to add more partners and to solve for the unique challenges each new market poses. We also encourage any food selling business who is interested in working with us to visit TooGoodToGo.com and input their information and someone will reach out directly.
What is the one, most important thing people can do when considering how they can cut down on their own personal food waste?
There are so many things we can all be doing more of! Here are a few:
- Shop your fridge/pantry before buying new food
- Purchase food with “enjoy tonight” discounts at the grocery store
- Look at date labels and purchase items closest to their best before date
- Freeze any baked goods or prepared fruits you can’t consume immediately
- Re-mix leftovers with new items so eating leftovers doesn’t feel like a chore
- Shop on Too Good To Go!
AUTHOR
Elizabeth Hazard is a writer, producer and photography editor. Her work has appeared in various publications and she writes frequently about art, culture, fashion and history.
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