Too Good To Go app targets food waste, launches in Chicago

I really like the idea of this app when reading many articles about how much of the food in the U.S. is thrown out. The Too Good To Go app allows restaurants to sell food that is not sold in a given day to be offered at a discount through the app at the end of the day.

Too Good To Go app launches in Chicago; helps people buy food that’s too good to waste. The app already has 1 million U.S. users. Its goal is to reduce food waste by selling “surprise bags” from restaurants, bakeries, and other stores that have food left over at the end of each day.

Through the app, consumers can buy a surprise bag from restaurants near them and pick it up at the end of the day. It costs $4 to $6, but always be less than the value of the food in the bag.

“The food you get on Too Good To Go is food that would have been sold full price just 10 minutes earlier,”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/14/ ... -go-launch

https://toogoodtogo.org/en

ah, priceline but for food.

polster wrote:I really like the idea of this app when reading many articles about how much of the food in the U.S. is thrown out. The Too Good To Go app allows restaurants to sell food that is not sold in a given day to be offered at a discount through the app at the end of the day.

Too Good To Go app launches in Chicago; helps people buy food that’s too good to waste. The app already has 1 million U.S. users. Its goal is to reduce food waste by selling “surprise bags” from restaurants, bakeries, and other stores that have food left over at the end of each day.

Through the app, consumers can buy a surprise bag from restaurants near them and pick it up at the end of the day. It costs $4 to $6, but always be less than the value of the food in the bag.

“The food you get on Too Good To Go is food that would have been sold full price just 10 minutes earlier,”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/14/ ... -go-launch

https://toogoodtogo.org/en

I checked out the Too Good to Go site, and for my area, it was almost all pizza and fried chicken. The latter, I get completely: Popeye's, etc., cook up a bunch of bird that they hold until customers order it. When an unsold piece of chicken goes past its holding time, they want to unload it: there's likely no health hazard, but the taste/texture of the bird may be degraded and so it's not quite up to standards.

With pizza, it might be just a way to sell more pizza. I suspect this is the motive behind Imperfect Food, which I originally liked, until I realized the fruit, which was pretty much perfect, was costing me more than pretty-much-perfect grocery store or farmer's market produce. My cynical perspective is that labeling the fruit "Imperfect" is just a plausible marketing strategy for developing just another channel for selling regular fruit (and other products) at a slightly higher price. And labeling it "imperfect" and thus "unsellable" appeals to those of us who want to reduce food waste.

David Hammond wrote:I suspect this is the motive behind Imperfect Food, which I originally liked, until I realized the fruit, which was pretty much perfect, was costing me more than pretty-much-perfect grocery store or farmer's market produce. My cynical perspective is that labeling the fruit "Imperfect" is just a plausible marketing strategy for developing just another channel for selling regular fruit (and other products) at a slightly higher price. And labeling it "imperfect" and thus "unsellable" appeals to those of us who want to reduce food waste.

Yes, exactly. I think with Imperfect there's ostensibly a mission but upon closer inspection, it's pretty flimsy.

=R=

David Hammond wrote:I checked out the Too Good to Go site, and for my area, it was almost all pizza and fried chicken. The latter, I get completely: Popeye's, etc., cook up a bunch of bird that they hold until customers order it. When an unsold piece of chicken goes past its holding time, they want to unload it: there's likely no health hazard, but the taste/texture of the bird may be degraded and so it's not quite up to standards.

With pizza, it might be just a way to sell more pizza. I suspect this is the motive behind Imperfect Food, which I originally liked, until I realized the fruit, which was pretty much perfect, was costing me more than pretty-much-perfect grocery store or farmer's market produce. My cynical perspective is that labeling the fruit "Imperfect" is just a plausible marketing strategy for developing just another channel for selling regular fruit (and other products) at a slightly higher price. And labeling it "imperfect" and thus "unsellable" appeals to those of us who want to reduce food waste.

1- The app is new to the Chicagoland area so the amount of restaurants participating is obviously low in certain areas (Downtown and Chicago Metro probably offers largest current selection of participating restaurants) but I assume will grow as adoption of such an app grows in a geographic area.

2 - I am not as cynical in the view of what this app offers. Its seems to meet a demand in a market that didn't exist before. The demand from the restaurant point of view is to gain 1 additional customer that would have not stepped foot in the restaurant at the given original price point and sell product that normally would be thrown away at the end of the day. The customer would be willing to try the new restaurant at the 'discounted' price point for $4-$6 which is a win win for both customer and restaurant.

Imperfect Food sells fruits and vegetables at a higher price point than retail/market price and so I don't see the comparison with the 2 platforms as 1 is selling product at a discount while the other is selling at a premium to gain a customer base. I understand both platforms are selling the so called 'Common Good' as a business model, but the restaurant app actually seems like a good idea for both the customer and participating restaurants.. While Imperfect foods just seems like a an additional step up revenue generator and is not actually good deal for the consumer/customer.

/polster

polster wrote:1- The app is new to the Chicagoland area so the amount of restaurants participating is obviously low in certain areas (Downtown and Chicago Metro probably offers largest current selection of participating restaurants) but I assume will grow as adoption of such an app grows in a geographic area.

2 - I am not as cynical in the view of what this app offers. Its seems to meet a demand in a market that didn't exist before. The demand from the restaurant point of view is to gain 1 additional customer that would have not stepped foot in the restaurant at the given original price point and sell product that normally would be thrown away at the end of the day. The customer would be willing to try the new restaurant at the 'discounted' price point for $4-$6 which is a win win for both customer and restaurant.

Re: point 1, fully agree, though going forward it would seem like this concept would likely appeal more to quick service restaurants than to sit-down places, especially mid-to-high level sit down places, which would be preparing food to order, and the more successful places probably have systems in place to reduce waste.

Re: point 2, yes, this app will like bring in new customers, just as a sale price or 2-for-1 deal would bring in more customers. A more fundamental question is: will restaurants be using this app mostly as a way to avoid waste or mostly as a way to increase sales. Either way is fine with me, as both are understandable and worthy business goals, and I do think the "mission to do good" angle is positive in and of itself and, not incidentally, a way for many restaurants to get through a difficult time with increased sales.

Me, I'm unlikely to use this app, though I may try it once or twice for the novelty aspect and, what the heck, surprises are fun.

Oh boy. As a person with something of a reputation for novel cheapskatery, this definitely appeals. My most recent trick has been ordering whatever pie Jet's Pizza is featuring, and having them hold all of the toppings save cheese for my kids, which ends up being ~$5 cheaper than a straightforward cheese pie. Now I can literally reserve their discards one step before the trash. (If the Dunkin' Donuts at the end of my block signs up, I might be able to cut down on the number of Dumpster-rescued donuts the squirrels drop in my yard.)

At the moment, nothing available in Oak Park - Hammond's post got me all excited for cold Popeye's for dinner.

How do you find out what restaurants are participating in this in the Chicago area? Do you have to download the app?

Concerning Imperfect Produce, they say that some of their produce is just stuff that the farmer has too much of. I agree that their prices are not enticing, although they have a deal for people on LINK. Before the pandemic hit last year, I know that Terra Brockman, Henry's Sister was bemoaning them in some of the weekly emails she sent out telling people what Henry was bringing to the Evanston market. Henry sells a lot of veggies that Whole Foods will not touch because it is not perfect. When you buy kale from him, you almost always see a few holes that the bugs have made.

Last week I bought a 5.75 pound flat Japanese cabbage from Henry that had split open because of too much rain. He charged me $.40 a pound for that cabbage. It was wonderful. There is also somebody that comes to the Evanston market that sells #2 fruit really cheap. I can buy a 1/4 peck container of #2 peaches for $3 at K & K Farms. If you come late Linda does not always have them. She was out of them last week when I got there at 11:00.

NFriday wrote:How do you find out what restaurants are participating in this in the Chicago area? Do you have to download the app?

I think finding participating restaurants maybe only done through the phone app via Android or iPhone. I don't see an option to search on their website.

polster wrote:

NFriday wrote:How do you find out what restaurants are participating in this in the Chicago area? Do you have to download the app?

I think finding participating restaurants maybe only done through the phone app via Android or iPhone. I don't see an option to search on their website.

Agreed. There is no information on their website other than the platitudes of their mission.

I downloaded the app and gave it a try each of the past few nights since I love mystery bags. Last night was Roost - pickup was easy and they had a line of about 8 to-go bags ready on the counter, they told me to pick one (paper bag, so random). I got 3 pieces of fried chicken (mild or naked, not sure which) and 3 sides. Everything was fine, just not what I would have ordered regularly (prefer Nashville Hot) but it was plenty of food, and of their usual quality - I've eaten there a few times but not recently. Tonight did not go as well - ordered from a Ipsento 606, a place I'd never heard of. Pickup was from 5:15-6pm, but at 5:15 the door was locked, lights were off with no sign of activity inside. The posted hours said 6pm, but not tonight I guess. The app quickly returned my fee with a couple of clicks, but disappointing since cafe/bakery seems perfect for this app with baked goods not typically made to order, but that experience may have soured me.
I'd be interested to know if my Roost food was really surplus food, or made for orders through the app - I have no idea. Next time think I'll just order what I want and pay the price

Since this thread was made, Too Good to Go has expanded quite a bit and I've been enjoying using it. It's still hit or miss in a lot of ways, but that's kind of the nature of the beast. It's definitely not for everyone, but I enjoy the anticipation and mystery (and food). The ratings are a decent guide to what's worthwhile, and I stay away from unrated places for the most part.

It still trends towards bakeries, chains, and pizza places, but there's a lot more variety overall. The places I've picked up from in the last few months include Molly's Cupcakes, Roost, La Boulangerie, Smoque (at Revivial Food Hall), La Patisserie P, Paulie Gee's, Budlong, and Bittersweet Pastry. Haven't tried yet but have my eye on Luke's Lobster, ATX Bodega, and Dinkel's.

I'm enjoying this ap, too. Most days there's a bag of groceries available from Local Foods.

One offering that's not getting picked up [literally] enough are the offerings from Urban Tables. It appears to be a catering service and frequently has meals available on Friday and Saturday nights. They offer both vegetarian and meat meals. I've been buying one of each. So far, each meal has even included dessert.

There are some other things I like, but I'm not going to tell you about them because they sell out quickly and I don't want to reduce my chances .

https://www.urbantableschicago.com/home

Pro tip: best time to try to snag some food is shortly after the order period has ended for a particular vendor.

Giovanna

I've given Too Good to Go a whirl twice now. The first order was from Kimberli Bar & Thai Cuisine on Lawrence. The bag consisted of miso soup, a sushi roll and a mixed greens salad. I couldn't fully identify the roll from their menu. It was decent, though the rice was soggy. Today, I picked up a bag from the Heritage Outpost on Wilson. For $3.99, I got a cinnamon roll and two muffins. I like the concept and am a fan of a deal. It doesn't seem like there are many options close to home. I'll check it out every now and then to see if anything catches my fancy.

La Patisserie P is on the app. This was a great deal for $4.99. I got a quick rundown at what was in the bag, which I promptly forgot. This will be an adventure!



(Edited to correct photo link.)