Two birds, one app: Food waste app celebrates its first year in Alberta

An app designed to reduce food waste and bring affordable food to homes across the globe is making waves in Calgary a year after launch.

Too Good To Go was founded in Denmark and launched in Alberta last year. In its first year, the app has kept 100,000 meals from going to waste and has saved Albertans $1.3 million on food.

More than 320 local businesses have now signed up for the app in Calgary.

Two birds, one app

The app reduces food waste and saves Calgarians money by connecting businesses to consumers, Sarah Soteroff, senior public relations manager for Too Good To Go says.

Whether it’s a high-end restaurant, bakery, grocery store—or any business with surplus food—the extra food is sold in surprise bags directly to consumers at a third of the retail price.

“The average family wastes $2,000 on food they throw away,” Soteroff says.

“As costs continue to rise it's important that we find ways to lower the amount we're wasting and ensure we have avenues for saving.”

All consumers need to do is download the app to be connected to businesses in their area and will be able to save money on fresh food while keeping it from going to waste.

Sprout Society

Amy Kadziolka and her husband, Connor Kadziolka, co-founded a plant-based meal delivery service in 2020.

Sprout Society prepares and delivers ready-to-eat plant-based meals right to your doorstep, taking away the hassle of grocery shopping and providing Calgarians with healthy food.

Kadziolka says they got involved in Too Good To Go when the company reached out to them about their expansion into Calgary.

For Sprout Society, the mission has always been to reduce waste.

“We’ve instilled in our team since day one that we don’t want to have a lot of leftover ingredients,” Kadziolka says.

“Too Good To Go has given us a way to virtually have no leftovers and no waste at the end of our week.”

Extra ingredients

The Kadziolkas prep meals for their customers and they use their extra ingredients to make more meals that are sold through Too Good To Go.

“We do have a couple of regulars that come in every week to pick up their Too Good To Go,” Kadziolka says. “It’s really great that people are able to access our super healthy and delicious foods where sometimes, on their incomes, they wouldn’t be able to.”

On top of reducing waste and making affordable food accessible, Too Good To Go also provides Kadziolka’s business with additional revenue.

“As a small business, that’s amazing,” she says. “We did purchase those ingredients in the first place, so for us to be able to recoup some of that cost while also not having that waste is huge.”

Get involved

Any business can join Too Good To Go’s app, so long as they have surplus food.

On average, Soteroff says that Canadians waste 58 per cent of the food produced. This is higher than the global average of 40 per cent.

“You see how much food is thrown out and then there’s families in our community that are accessing the food bank or don’t have enough to eat each week— it really just shows you that something needs to be done,” Kadziolka adds.

As Too Good To Go continues to grow in Calgary, the community can expect to find new businesses and great food always being added to the app.