Interested in reducing food waste and getting a good deal at the same time? Do you like surprises?
Then you might want to try the apps, Too Good To Go or Goodie Bag. Both of these are marketplaces for surplus food. Businesses like restaurants, bakeries, convenience stores or catering companies list bags of food for sale. The food is has been unsold, and is a little too old for them to sell in the regular fashion, but is perfectly fine to eat.
The bags are usually “surprise” bags, meaning that you get what you get. But there are some offers that do give information about what’s in the bags.
The bags are typically sold at 50% off what the items would cost retail, although that varies. Many bags are a steeper discount and some might be at a smaller discount.
The process for customers: Just look at the app and see what’s being offered near you. You’ll see labels like Vegan and Gluten-Free if applicable to a bag.
Purchase a bag. The offer will say when you can pick it up, which is typically the same day of the purchase, or the next day. You’ll receive an email with an order. Just go to the location and pick it up!
The businesses generally provide bags to bring your food home, but you might want to bring your own reusable bag to reduce waste. (Unlike the picture above!)
The number of businesses on both apps is growing in Charlotte. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the businesses on each app. That doesn’t mean that they will all have deals when you look at the app. And the list can change at any time.
Too Good To Go
- Tiff’s Treats
- Milk Cha-Cha
- Circle K
- Tarascas Sweets Cafe
- Tax and Tea Lounge
- Red Bowl
- Krispy Kreme
- Yummi Muffin
Goodie Bag
- The Yard Milkshake Bar
- Poppy’s Bagels
- Super Icy Broth
- Love in Action Cafe
- Romeo & Juliet Brazilian Cafe-Bakery
- Beard Papa’s Bakery
- It’s Poppin’ Gourmet Kettle Korn Popcorn Shop
- Raw Bites by Risa
- Benny Ferrovia’s
- Batch House
- Honeybear Bake Shop
- Your Mom’s Donuts
- Focaccina Italian Street Food
- Basilico Italiano
- The Jugo Bar
- Queen City Grounds
We Tried It!
We tried Too Good To Go for the first time. We ordered a surprise bag from Yummi Muffin, a gluten-free bakery in Concord. The surprise bag was $6.99 ($7.48 after tax.) It was listed as having a value of $21.
It contained three small banana cookies and five muffins, several of which were dairy free. They were kept chilled until we picked them up.
The pick-up process was very smooth, and all the treats were tasty, especially the banana cookies!
Charlotte on the Cheap is a member of 
