How much of the groceries you buy every week end up in the bin, because you didn’t manage to consume them before they went off? Imagine then the amount of food that restaurants and shops have to trash for the same reason… Saving food has never been as imperative as it is today and companies like Too Good To Go make this necessary mission as easy as just a click on your phone.
The planet is already way too overpopulated and our food has to be mass produced, fruits have to be picked up before they are ripe and nutritious enough, animals have to be injected with hormones so that they grow bigger and faster, fields are being left infertile and barren due to excessive agriculture.
Now think of all the resources it takes to produce all the food that is needed to feed a planet. How about you consider, that it takes 24,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of chocolate and 21,000 liters to produce one kilo of coffee beans. Everything we eat and drink has an impact. Still, almost HALF OF THE FOOD IS LOST OR WASTED from farm to table. And the world will virtually run out of food by 2050 if global food systems are not profoundly transformed.
A survey conducted by Too Good To Go showed that:
– 70% of the Swedes are worried about the amount of food that is being wasted
– 84% think it’s really important to reduce their own food waste
– Actions that the Swedes are willing to take in order to reduce their own food waste:
62% are willing to plan their meals, 47% are prepared to follow simple tips and hacks on how to reduce food waste in everyday life, 45% would buy more surplus food, 33% are willing to try smart services that help them save surplus food, 32% are willing to take smaller helpings, 21% are willing to read articles on food waste.
If you haven’t yet heard about Too Good To Go, they’re a social impact company founded in 2016 fighting food waste across Europe. They do this mainly through a B2C app that connects customers with food businesses that have unsold surplus food at the end of the day. Yes! All that delicious, perfectly edible food that stores and restaurants have to throw out at the end of the day just because they have to sell fresh everyday. Beside the app, the company is building a Movement Against Food Waste and leads projects with households, businesses, schools, and public affairs to create real change to how we legislate, learn, and approach food waste.
The app was launched in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2016 and is now available in 14 countries. It has been downloaded more than 22 million times and together its users have saved more than 39 million meals. Too Good To Go works with more than 45,000 partners. In Sweden Too Good To Go is led by Åsa Sandberg, Country Manager and Food Waste Expert.
We have now tried and tested the app and we can’t believe how cheap and good the food being offered there is! You simply download the app onto your phone and tablet, set up your location and it immediately shows you which restaurants and shops have surplus food available, either in the form of food bags or boxes or entire ready meals. You then reserve and purchase that food and go to pick it up at the allotted time.
We should make saving food part of our habits! Helping each other, both as individuals and businesses, we’ll be able to change the numbers into our favour and ensure we’re still able to procure food for ourselves for generations to come.
