The world’s largest online marketplace for surplus food, Too Good To Go, has launched in Melbourne. The Danish-born certified B-Corp aims to help households and businesses halve Australia’s annual food waste by 2030 in line with the National Food Waste Strategy.
Too Good To Go helps fight unnecessary food waste by connecting Aussies with businesses’ surplus food for a reduced price through its app.
The free to use mobile app allows users to purchase a Surprise Bag of food, at a reduced price from a range of bakeries, cafes, restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses.
“We’re thrilled to launch Too Good To Go starting in Melbourne, with its vibrant food culture and clear recognition of the value of food,” said Too Good To Go Country Director of Australia Joost Rietveld.
“Australia’s strong commitment to sustainability makes it the perfect match for our mission to inspire and empower everyone to fight food waste together.”
Working together
Over 80 local businesses have joined Too Good To Go for its launch in Australia including Abacus Bar and Kitchen, ST. ALi, Undercover Roasters, and Wabi Sushi. FoodCo’s Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue will also be joining the marketplace with select sites rolling out across Victoria throughout September.
“We work with a lot of companies trying to constantly help reduce waste from both a cost perspective and also environmental perspective,” said St Ali General Manager John Scalzo. “So when I found out about Too Good To Go to reduce our food waste it was ‘Too Good’ to pass up!”
More stores will continuously be added on the app, which worldwide already partners with more than 170,000 food businesses.
Too Good To Go’s Marketplace is said to make for a win-win-win solution: for retailers generating income from inventory that would otherwise be reduced to waste, but also for consumers getting quality food from great locations at a reasonable price, a welcomed solution at a time when many Australians are struggling through the cost of living crisis. Finally the environment really wins as food waste accounts for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Food waste in Australia
In Australia, food waste is a multi-billion dollar problem, with over 7.6 million tonnes of food wasted annually. That’s enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground ten times over and sadly, 70% of this food is still edible.
“We’re excited to invite Aussies to join our movement and start saving their favourite foods from going to waste,” Mr Rietveld said. “We hired a local team to drive our contribution to reduce food waste in Australia. Together, we can make a real impact and create a more sustainable future.”
Australia is Too Good To Go’s third continent of operations. Global CEO says the expansion is a significant step towards the social impact company’s vision of a planet without food waste.
“We cannot afford to waste food – it’s too valuable for society, the economy, and the planet,” he said.
“We invite everyone in Australia to join our global community of 100 million users and 170,000 business partners and start making a difference, one meal at a time – bite by bite!”
The social impact company that has already helped saved 350 million meals from going to waste across 18 countries, reducing food waste one ‘Surprise Bag’ at a time.