Too Good To Go partners with Wokingham Council to reduce food waste
More local businesses are encouraged to join an app that helps reduce food waste, following a partnership agreement with Wokingham Borough Council.
Too Good To Go (TGTG) allows stores and restaurants to sell their surplus food instead of throwing it away, where it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions through incineration or sending to landfill.
Council executive member for the environment, sport and recreation, Cllr Ian Shenton, stressed that food waste is a “global problem” that needs “urgent attention”.
In the UK alone, almost 200,000 tonnes of food was thrown away last year, according to a study by climate charity Wrap, equivalent to around 476 million meals.
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Currently, 110 businesses, including cafes, coffee shops, supermarkets and bakeries, across the borough have joined the app to offer unsold food items to residents for a fraction of the original price.
Outlets place items in “magic bags” and list them on the app, where customers can purchase the mystery content for about a third of the original sale price and pick them up at a set time.
Wokingham-based businesses already signed up to the initiative include Caffe Nero, Greggs, Co-op, Morrisons, Move HQ, Starbucks and Costa Coffee.
“We are grateful to the companies that have joined the Too Good To Go app for helping to reduce the Borough’s carbon footprint. I hope to see more businesses on board and make a difference for the environment,” said Cllr Shenton.
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So far, more than 46,000 magic bags that might otherwise have been thrown away have been sold by businesses in Wokingham, equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions of 1,310 London-Berlin flights.
TGTG has agreed to waive its platform administration fees for the first six months if companies register through the dedicated webpage by December 31.
TGTG UK and Ireland chief executive Sophie Trueman hopes the partnership can help “combat food waste” in the borough.
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“Not only is reducing food waste a good business decision, it also has huge benefits for our planet. I can’t wait to see the impact we can have together through this fantastic collaboration.
More and more customers are looking for offers. Since January, the anti-waste app has seen demand for “magic bags” soar as sales have increased more than 100% every month, according to food and drink magazine The Grocer.
Trends show the public increasingly cutting back on food spending as they battle the rising cost of living, with overall food inflation hitting 7% this month.