Is Too Good To Go too good to be true? Nope! Portland’s newest anti-food waste app, Too Good To Go, is breaking into Maine’s biggest city one market, bakery, cafe, etc. at a time.
Image Courtesy of Too Good To Go
What is Too Good To Go?
Each year, more than one-third of food produced in the world goes to waste, and is responsible for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Too Good To Go, is on a mission to make a real change by tackling food waste on a local level by allowing you, the consumer, the ability to save perfectly good, surplus from local businesses. While on the flip side of the coin, Too Good To Go presents bakeries, restaurants, markets, and hotels the opportunity to further their profit, while also exposing them to new customers and becoming a player within the sustainability agenda.
That’s nice, but how does it work?
It’s as easy as downloading the app, logging in, and browsing local selections directly from your phone. Appropriately named “Surprise Bags”, items within will be dependent on the unsold treats from the day, and you won’t be able to pick specific items off of a business’ menu. However, this means a great price for a good deed, as “Surprise Bags” are offered at a discount. Businesses do typically provide a snippet of what one can typically expect with a Surprise Bag. Pre-saved bags are usually limited, so it’s best to save one as soon as possible!
Once purchased, you’ll receive an order notification for a pending pick-up time based on the business’ schedule, as well as your full order details and additional business notes. Too Good To Go will send you a notification reminder on the day of pick-up. Do keep in mind that orders are “pending”, meaning that if the business does sell out of items during their regular business hours, you will be notified ASAP and issued a refund.
Gross Bakery's Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gross Bakery's Everything Scone with Apricot Jam and Goat Cheese
Blah, blah, blah that’s great and all but tell us which Portland business we can currently find on Too Good To Go!
Current Portland businesses opting-in to Too Good To Go are the following:
While we will be trying all locations ASAP, we can give you a first-hand testimonial of our first experience with Too Good To Go this past week. We ordered from both Ruby’s West End and Little Woodfords for about $6 each. Ruby’s West End delivered us two cranberry scones and a chocolate chip muffin. While at Little Woodfords we received two lemon poppyseed scones, courtesy of Prairie Baking Co., and two delicious chocolate chip cookies. All were nicely sized and absolutely delicious. Thank you to both!
A great way to fight food waste, here’s hoping that more businesses in Portland join in soon!
Too Good To Go is available for use nationwide and across the globe. You can download the app in either your Apple or Android store.
