At Intown Sushi in Minneapolis’ Midtown Global Market, savvy customers can get about $50 worth of food for $7 while reducing food waste.
The discount is available through the mobile app Too Good to Go, which expanded to the Twin Cities this fall. Users can purchase “surprise bags” filled with surplus food for a third to half the original price. This has already benefited dozens of local businesses.
Since the app debuted in the Twin Cities in mid-September, more than 5,700 meals that would otherwise have ended up in the trash have now gone into the hands of customers.
Intown Sushi is Too Good to Go is a top seller in Minnesota, already offering more than 2,200 bags of various rolls and bowls. In addition to in-store locations, the company delivers packaged sushi to grocery stores and catered events. Owner Tan Zaw said that before the app was introduced, unedible products from these caterers would be returned and thrown away.
“We’re seeing a lot of returns, with 15 to 20 percent of packaging being returned,” Zaw said. “This is really helpful.”
Each day, the restaurant sells more than 20 bags of food starting the morning before. Zo said their sushi passes state-required clinical testing, and the raw ingredients are still fresh the day after they’re prepared.
Global company, local focus
Edible food accounts for more than 11% of waste in Minnesota landfills, according to a 2021 study by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. On a larger scale, the FDA estimates that one-third of food in the United States is wasted.
Too Good to Go spokeswoman Sarah Soteloff said the company aims to reduce global food waste by focusing on the local level. She said working directly with businesses and consumers in cities can have a greater impact than waiting for systemic changes in the processing of surplus food.
“We need better mechanisms to get surplus food that is still fully edible into the hands of people who want low-cost products,” Soteloff said. “Too Good to Go is a really great way to do that.”
The app has also helped businesses with low levels of food waste, like Gigi’s Cafe in south Minneapolis. The cafe typically sells one or two $6 surprise bags a day filled with $18 worth of pastries made in the bakery the day before.
Laura Stigen, general manager of Gigi’s, said the company plans to offer more food through the app because it’s working well for the business. Their Too Good to Go bags typically sell quickly when posted at 8pm, expanding their customer base in the process.
“Every day is like a new person,” Stegen said. “That’s the great thing about new people coming in and being like, “Oh my god, I didn’t know you were here!” I have to come and eat it.” ”
Gigi’s strives to avoid waste, so if Stigen has a pastry or two left over after packing a surprise bag, he hands them out to late-night customers. This is the strategy Too Good to Go supports.
“If businesses can donate that food and give it away for free, we encourage them to do so,” Soteloff said. “It’s very difficult because there are so many barriers to what can be donated, especially at the grocery level and prepared food level, but the fact that there’s so much waste and it’s not going into people’s stomachs… That’s terrible.”
Founded in Denmark in 2016 and currently operating in 17 countries, Too Good to Go helps people preserve and recycle food at home, from the best way to preserve fruit to making cookies from stale bread. We publish tips on how to use it on our website and Instagram. Soteloff said that while food waste has become the norm, reducing global food waste depends on individual action. (You can download the free app on his App Store or Google Play. Visit toogoodtogo.com for more information.)
“The best thing you can do is not throw away perfectly edible food,” Soteloff says. “Everyone at every level wastes food every day and many times a day. This is a very simple solution.”
Jesse Lehmann is a student reporter at the University of Minnesota and is assigned to the Star Tribune. Contact Jessy.Rehmann@startribune.com.