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Patrick Shay, owner and operator of The Marketplace Sudbury, said a new resource is lifting his unsold groceries off the shelves.
“It helps reduce my risk when it comes to products with a short shelf life,” he said.
Too Good to Go launched officially for iPhone and Android users in Sudbury, Ont. this week as a free app that lists foods about to become waste, but is still edible and sold at a discount.
The app has roots in Denmark, after it first founded in 2015 and expanded across Europe and North America.
It isn’t a new app that introduces the concept of selling surplus foods that otherwise becomes waste.
But for Shay, it’s putting the independent grocer back on shoppers’ radars since its previous owners, Kellie and Gary Doyle retired last month.
He added it’s a way to draw people into his store again and also give savings on fresh produce that is close to its best-before date.
“They might find a couple spots on the food, but you can either cut around it or you know, cut it off, or avoid that particular part of the product, but they’re getting a great deal on fresh produce.”
Cutting it close
Foods sold in Canada don’t come with hard expiry dates.
Instead, they are packaged with a best-before system that suggests foods including fruits, dairy and meats will start to show their age after a specific date.
Waste comes when the still-edible food is tossed before or on its best-before date.
“As the product is getting close to its end of life but still has a couple of days left, it’s still good. I’m able to offer that at a discount to consumers,” Shay said.
‘2.7 million Big Nickels’ worth of food waste annually
In a statement from Too Good To Go, 40 local businesses in Sudbury including The Nickel Refillery, Nourish and Salty Dog Bagels are part of the listings users can scroll through.
They added Canada generates 35.5 million tonnes – or 2.7 million Big Nickels – of food waste per year.
“The issue that a lot of businesses have is that there’s not a great mechanism for finding ways to get directly to the consumers,” said Sarah Soterhoff, head of public relations for Too Good to Go North America.
The discounted food – at 1/3 the retail price – is typically packaged together in a surprise bag with a fixed price.
Users can pick their food store or restaurant of choice and reserve a pickup time on the app.
Soteroff said Sudbury is the first city in northern Ontario to launch Too Good To Go and there are plans to expand its coverage.
All of the food is also guaranteed to be ready to eat or cook, she added.
“Nothing will be actually expired or inedible and still have to be fully consumable. It has to be what would have been sold during the course of business and simply didn’t get sold.”
Shay said he had over 2000 impressions with customers since the app launch and is committed to selling surprise bags at 70 per cent off.
“I’m really liking it as an opportunity to connect with you consumers, but also to reduce our impact on the environment,” he said.
He added the surprise bags won’t be too unpredictable and customers can use them as a way to experiment with new dinner ideas.
“It’s fun to figure out,” he said.
“What can I do with cauliflower, pork chops and some cucumber?”
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