As of: January 31, 2024, 4:13 p.m
By: Martin Becker
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Saved from the bin: Twelve different rolls and sweets were available for four euros.
Thanks to the app.
© mbe
The Germans throw away too much food.
An app is now combating food waste.
We tested them.
District - Children always have a little fun after eating chocolate: What's in the surprise egg?
Adults experience a similar aha effect when shopping for groceries – when they purchase a “surprise bag”.
The appeal of the unknown, but not only: you can also save money and do good for the environment.
The concept is based on the “Too Good To Go” portal, which roughly translates to: too good to throw away.
This still happens far too often; in Germany alone, around 2.2 million tons of food end up in the trash every year.
And this despite the fact that 828 million people worldwide suffer from hunger every day.
Does it have to be that way?
“It’s not the lack of food that’s the problem, it’s the irresponsible handling of it,” says Mette Lykke, CEO of “Too Good To Go”.
The company, founded in 2015, has its roots in Denmark and is now active in 15 European countries as well as in the USA and Canada.
Goal: to reduce food waste.
Using an app.
Two thirds discount
All information about purchasing can be found in the “Too Good To Go” app.
© mbe
The idea behind it is simple: If you sell food and can't get rid of surplus goods, you can offer them online as a “surprise bag” at a third of the regular price.
This is reserved and paid for in advance by interested customers, and a time window is set for collection.
A win for everyone: the bakery or supermarket doesn't have to throw away the products and still earns a little something, the customer only pays a third of the normal price for the remaining goods, and the app operators receive one euro per transaction.
The Munich Merkur did the self-test: How well does it work in practice?
Download the free app onto your smartphone, register, enter a payment method (such as PayPal) and you're ready to go.
You can even set “dietary preferences” in your personal profile; the “I eat everything” section works for me (vegetarians or vegans can enter KO criteria here).
Participating companies in the area (which can be set as desired; around 800 companies in and around Munich) are displayed on a map.
Lo and behold, relatively close, two and a half kilometers and nine minutes by bike, there is an offer at “Caro's and Lissy's Backwarenecke” in Unterföhring.
The “surprise bag” will cost four euros instead of the usual twelve – I don’t know what exactly will be in it, that’s just the surprise;
What is advertised is “a selection of pastries, rolls or similar items that were left over from the day or the day before”.
My time window for collection: 12 p.m. to 12.50 p.m. - so let's go, because with the uncomplicated booking process including advance payment, my watch shows 12.08 as the time.
Pickup time slot
Fifteen minutes later, still within the specified sales time window.
Carola Beil, one of the owners of “Caro's and Lissy's Backwarenecke” in Unterföhring, greets me and already knows the information - I was announced to her as a buyer via the app.
A quick look at my smartphone and the 55-year-old handed me the “surprise bag”.
I only find out the exact contents at home: twelve bakery products, from different types of rolls to sweets.
For four instead of twelve euros.
My price savings are a secondary aspect, it's about the bigger picture: If I hadn't bought this "surprise bag", the rolls would have been a case of being thrown away.
And this is exactly where the concept of the “Too Good To Go” app comes in.
Test buyer Merkur editor Martin Becker picks up a “surprise bag” from Carola Beil (55) in “Caro's and Lissy's Backwarenecke” in Unterföhring.
© mbe
Beil reports that she throws away almost none of her baked goods.
“A brother-in-law has sheep, a customer has horses – or a circus with its animals is happy,” says the boss of the Unterföhringer Bachwarenecke.
But if, despite the sheep, horses or circus, leftovers are foreseeable: then the app takes effect.
“It's going very well,” says Beil, founder and co-owner of “Caro's and Lissy's Backwarenecke” (since 1999 in Unterföhring), describing her experiences.
She had already had the basic idea (“We wanted to do something like that ourselves”), then the app came along.
No longer sell super-fresh goods cheaper instead of throwing them away: “Customers are very accepting of this offer,” says Beil.
This also applies to the surprise factor: that no one knows exactly what is ultimately in the bag.
A kind of culinary “blind date”.
In practice, the surprise bags are worth the money.
Four instead of twelve euros – a roll can be a little drier.
Of the four euros that the customer pays, one goes to the platform operators and three to the sellers.
“Better than nothing,” says Beil.
Above all, however, she is concerned with the principle: “Nothing is thrown away!” In this respect, the interaction between sellers and customers organized via an app in the interests of not wasting food is “a great idea”.
One that even generates new customers.
“Very much used”
They had similarly good experiences in Ismaning, at the Grünerhof, where the “bags” become “surprise boxes” with salad, potatoes and vegetables.
“In the winter months we have a lot of stored varieties such as cabbage with bruises, which can no longer be sold well.
The surprise boxes are ideal for this,” report Johann and Carmen Grüner.
Selling leftovers via app is “used a lot and is very well received by customers”.
Otherwise what would be the alternative?
“You often think that the easier way would be to simply compost it.
But we are happier when we can still pass on edible food to end consumers.”
The “surprise box” from the Grünerhof in Ismaning.
© private
The experience at the “Brotzeit local bakery” in Oberhaching is similarly positive.
“We have always passed on returns to our employees, donated them to the food bank and, above all, processed them through complex processes,” says sales manager Darja Scheller.
“The app helps you take countermeasures and is a step in the right direction.” Using the app itself is “uncomplicated,” but the surprise effect of the bags is received in different ways: “We always try to offer a mix.
Most customers appreciate it and are grateful.
But some complain and are basically just bargain hunters." The app is a good approach "and helps with countermeasures," believes Darja, Scheller, but: "Since food is still far too cheap in Germany, the waste won't stop. “
Information about the app can be found here.
Further news from the Munich district can be found here.