Every day, Whole Foods, along with other markets and restaurants, sells numerous prepared meals and fresh-baked goods. However, not all of these delicious offerings get sold by the end of the day. Enter the Too Good To Go app, which allows savvy shoppers to purchase these leftovers at a significant discount.
Recently, several Whole Foods Market stores in the D.C. area joined this innovative initiative, following the lead of other locations nationwide. “It might be items from the fresh bar or anything baked or cooked in-house. All of that stuff is made that day, and it is still perfectly good that evening. It just didn’t sell for full price,” explained spokeswoman Sarah Soteroff.
In addition to Whole Foods, other D.C. area partners with Too Good To Go include popular eateries and bakeries like CAVA, Sticky Rice, Bistro du Jour, Minya’s Pizza, and Cold Stone Ice Cream.
Launched in Copenhagen in 2016 and expanding to the U.S. in 2020, Too Good To Go has saved 13 million meals from waste and collaborates with 21,000 partners nationwide. Shoppers can use the location-based app to see what products are available in real time, usually with a two-hour pickup window at the end of the day.
One catch: customers buy “surprise bags,” so they won’t know exactly what they’re getting until purchase. For Whole Foods, a prepared foods bag worth $30 sells for $9.99, and a bakery bag valued at $21 goes for $6.99.
While the stores don’t profit from these sales, they avoid the loss of throwing away unsold food. Additionally, Too Good To Go’s flat fee of $1.79 per transaction helps draw customers into the store, often leading to further purchases of regular-priced items.
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Photo: Getty