October 3, 2022

Surplus Food Marketplace ‘Too Good To Go’ App Launches in Los Angeles

Too Good To Go, the world’s largest surplus food marketplace, has officially launched in the greater Los Angeles area. The free mobile app invites everyone in LA to save delicious meals and groceries for ⅓ of the retail price, in a simple, fun and impactful way. The launch in LA follows successful launches in 12 other major US cities.

The Too Good To Go app connects users with grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, sushi places, ice cream parlors, cafes (and many more!), so that delicious surplus food doesn’t go to waste. App users can browse, reserve and pay for a Surprise Bag on the Too Good To Go app. Then, they go to the store during the pick-up window to collect their surprise.

The content of each Surprise Bag purchased through the Too Good To Go app varies and users can expect to get a range of products, always at 1/3 of the retail value. Depending on the store chosen, the bags can contain anything from ingredients like fresh produce or pantry items to ready-to-eat foods like tasty slices of pizza, pints of ice cream or baked goods. Buying a single Too Good To Go Surprise Bag, in addition to getting all that great food for a great deal, is equivalent to saving the carbon footprint from charging a cellphone 442 times.

“Our team is proud to officially launch the Too Good To Go app in Los Angeles because today – more than ever – our app is the best solution to different real-world issues,” said Chris MacAulay, Too Good To Go US Managing Director. “In a reality where food prices are a huge challenge for people, Too Good To Go offers a meaningful and sustainable alternative to get delicious food at accessible prices all while slowing global warming through the reduction of food waste, which accounts for 10 percent of all GHG emissions globally.”

Fighting food waste is the fastest way to slow global warming. Today, 40 percent of all food in the US ends up in landfills, creating a massive impact on the environment. Added to that, food goes wasted, in a world where 870 million people go hungry every day. Additionally, food waste is valued at $1 trillion a year globally, with an economic impact in the US of more than $285 billion. That is why fighting food waste is a crusade with positive impacts at different levels: environmental, economic and social.

Too Good To Go presents a great alternative for businesses with surplus food. The marketplace app helps its partners contact more users, find a new showcase for their products and reduce their losses, optimize their resources and play an important role in the food rescue ecosystem.

“Too Good To Go is a service we wish existed years ago,” said Jordan Hardin, Director of Food and Beverage for Alfred Coffee. “We are excited to partner with his team to help further eliminate food waste in Los Angeles, be a more sustainable company and connect with and serve our customers in a deeper and more impactful way.”

“All food establishments should consider partnering with Too Good To Go,” said Raymond Martherus, Director of Marketing at Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins. “Partnering with them has allowed us to save surplus food so it doesn’t end up as waste, while simultaneously driving new customers to our stores.”

Alfred Coffee, Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins, Tartine Bakery, Gelato Festival and many more are among the first wave of Los Angeles establishments to join Too Good To Go. All participating locations can now be found as dots on the Los Angeles map in the app and are ready for users to start reserving Surprise Bags.

Founded in 2016, Too Good To Go is certified B-corp and has saved more than 164 million meals across 17 countries, which is the equivalent to 361+ million pounds of food.

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