Food Waste App Too Good To Go Passes 500 Million Meals Saved

A food waste app that began in Copenhagen has grown into a global business. Too Good To Go says it has saved more than 500 million meals from the bin, working with about 180,000 business partners in 21 countries across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

How the food waste app works

Stores, bakeries and restaurants list surprise bags of surplus food at a discount. Customers pick them up before closing time. The company says it has more than 120 million registered users and has avoided about 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. These are company estimates.

Growth in North America

In Canada, which launched in 2022, the app had saved over 4.2 million meals and reached more than 2.5 million users by May 2024. A pilot with Metro in Quebec grew from 10 stores to 93 in April 2024. In the United States, Whole Foods has a partnership at more than 450 locations, with surprise bags at 9.99 dollars for prepared foods and 6.99 dollars for bakery. Partners also include Aldi and 7-Eleven.

The 2023 impact report

The company reported 121.7 million meals saved in 2023, up 46 percent on 2022, with 328,554 tonnes of CO2 equivalent avoided. It says each kilogram of food saved avoids 2.7 kilograms of CO2 equivalent, based on calculations by Mérieux Nutrisciences and Blonk and reviewed by Oxford University and WRAP.

A fair caution

A July 2025 summary of research from UC Berkeley Haas and HKUST found that surprise bag and markdown programs can sometimes increase total waste, for example if stores overproduce or customers discard what they buy. The researchers said such programs work better for premium, high margin goods. The takeaway is that apps like this help, and the best result is still making less surplus food in the first place.

Sources: Too Good To Go about page; Retail Times, February 2024; Retail Insider, May 2024; UC Berkeley Haas, July 2025. Figures marked as company reported come from the company itself.