Have you ever been to a carvery and wondered what happens to what is left at the end of the day? Or the sandwiches left over in Greggs, or the bread about to reach its Best Before date in the Spar. Are you thinking, surely that is food too good to waste?
Pre-Order Food Waste
Thankfully we have largely moved on from the days when the majority of businesses simply wrote it off as a loss and placed it in their bin. Companies now often look to donate it to a local homeless community or charity or sell it at a reduced cost. However, a growing trend is companies offering the option to pre-order waste food at a reduced rate to collect at the end of the day. There are a few emerging platforms aimed at facilitating this, but the most popular is the mobile app, ‘Too Good To Go‘
Here are some examples of the listings you can expect to find.
Trying out ‘Too Good To Go’
So having been made aware of this app I decided to give it a go. I really wanted to test it out for a meal rather than groceries, so I looked at what meal offers were available in my local area.
Quite a section came up but as it was a Sunday the one that caught my interest was a Roast Carvery from a local restaurant. Usually £8.79, the offer was £3.99 (Hartford Mill Offer Above). There were 3 left to purchase and the collection would be between 8 pm and 8.30 pm that evening.
I have eaten at this restaurant many times so I knew the carvery was good. I purchased it through the app there and then.
Later that evening I went down, App in hand to collect my order. I was directed to the carvery counter. The chap checked the ticket number on my app and then pulled out a big plastic takeaway container and asked what vegetables I wanted. I wasn’t asked what meat I wanted but I was given turkey. I presume that they provided what was based on the meat they had left. He then proceeded to fill the container with vegetables and sealed the box. He then got a container which he filled with gravy. Both were then bagged, handed over, and off I went. As easy as that!
The drive home was only short so the food was piping hot. Once I have plated the contents, here is what I had.
Summary
In summary for a little petrol and £3.99, I had a great and large Sunday Roast. I saved money, I saved gas and electricity from not needing to cook my own, I helped a local business and I prevented some food waste. This app is my new best friend, check it out.
Finally, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Please comment below.