Cashing in on their leftovers
Too Good To Go app helps businesses sell food at discount instead of tossing it
Giorgio Saturnino, head of operations at Mrkt Space in Leucadia, has worked in the food industry his whole life, and he’s seen a lot of perfectly good food go to waste. So, when he heard about an app called Too Good To Go that would let him sell that food at a discount instead of throwing it out, he jumped at the opportunity.
The Too Good To Go app officially launched its online marketplace in San Diego County this week, as it expands its effort to cut down on food waste.
It’s estimated that the U.S. wastes one-third of its food supply each year — or 133 billion pounds and almost $162 billion — based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Too Good To Go is trying to tackle that issue at the retail and consumer level. It allows businesses to sell food that is still edible but would otherwise be thrown out at the end of the day due to a surplus of fresh food or “sell by” dates, which are recommendations by the manufacturer.
The twist — customers don’t know exactly what they’re going to get in a “surprise bag.” For a third of the retail price, you could get an assortment of doughnut flavors or a prepackaged salad and some pastries. It all depends on what’s left over at the end of the day.
At Mrkt Space, which sells prepackaged food and produce, as well as freshly prepared food for its cafe and wine bar, Saturnino said they’ve been selling bags of graband-go salads, pastries and canned goods that may be dented but perfectly good. He said it’s a win-win situation where they can sell customers $18 worth of food for $6 and “recuperate a little bit of money” on a product that’s “totally fine to eat.”
Too Good To Go started in Europe in 2015 and made its U.S. debut in 2020. Since then, the company has expanded its footprint to 14 European countries, Canada and now, San Diego, which is the 14th U.S. metropolitan area to welcome the app.
Chris MacAulay, U.S. manager for Too Good To Go said San Diego has
been “an incredibly receptive market” as local businesses have been eager to save food. MacAulay said it also gives small businesses a platform to meet new customers and share their commitment to sustainability.
“We’re taking something that was going in the trash bin and turning it into an asset,” MacAulay said of the benefit to businesses. “So, we take your food waste, and we turn it into something that you can sell, and we bring the audience with you.”
He added that not only does it help cut down on waste, but it offers a good value for customers who are already dealing with inflation. Food and beverage prices are up 3.8 percent since last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
At Mrkt Space, Saturnino said the high demand for these deals has also raised his awareness of how many San Diegans in the community are looking for affordable food options. For instance, surprise bags at the Mrkt Space La Jolla location — not far from the college students at UC San Diego’s campus — have been selling out in five minutes.
The app is free for customers, and there’s no sign-on fee for local businesses. For every surprise bag sold, Too Good To Go takes a fee of about 25 percent, depending on the price of the bag. The rest goes to the local business, which gets paid once per quarter.
There is also an $89 annual fee for the business to access the automated platform, which is deducted in the app MacAulay said.
So far, the company has just under 100 partner businesses in San Diego County. If you scroll through the app, you’ll see a variety of locally owned coffee shops, pizza joints, bagel places, ice cream parlors and more offering their food at a discount.
Damian Gonzalez owns Veggilish, a downtown healthy food business that makes bowls and salads. His fast-casual lunch spot on Seventh Avenue joined the platform because he said it resonated with the sustainability ethos of his business.
“That’s another huge thing ... Veggilish hates throwing away food or being wasteful,” Gonzalez said.
At the end of the day, customers who reserve a Veggilish surprise bag get to make a bowl out of the day’s remaining ingredients so nothing goes to waste. Depending on how busy the day is and how much food is left over, Gonzalez can adjust whether he offers up surprise bags on the app.
So far, he said they’ve been selling about two surprise bags per day, and it’s been a positive experience that has brought in new customers.
“Everybody that orders it has never been here before,” he said. “It’s super cool that they have an opportunity to try our food, and I think that they feel good as well — they feel like they’ve got a great deal.”