Too Good To Go reflects on 1M+ rescued meals in Alberta

Four years into its presence in Alberta, the Denmark-based Too Good To Go has noticed some trends among users of its app, which connects consumers to surplus food from restaurants, bakeries, cafés, and grocers at a discount. One in six users across the province told a survey that the app had introduced them to a business they had never tried before. In Edmonton, one in eight described the app as a discovery tool, suggesting that we're a little more deal-motivated here, though preventing good food from hitting the landfill is a big motivation, too. When the service arrived in 2022, "Edmontonians already saw food waste as as a serious problem," said Luke Slinger, the Canadian head of key accounts for Too Good To Go. "Roughly three out of four of them saw it as a problem, and six out of 10 were actively working to cut it down," he told Taproot. "We saw a true fit between what Edmontonians were trying to do and what we're able to help them achieve."

Many Edmonton partners of Too Good to Go are franchises, such as Tim Hortons and Circle K — but indies are there, too. For example, there's Careit Urban Deli in Crestwood, Lady Bea's English Tea House in Westmount, Empress Bakery and CDC Tiffin & Catering Services on Whyte Avenue, and 8 Stone Pizza in Mill Woods. You can find goodie bags for as little as $5, such as at social enterprise The Hallway Café + Takeaway at City Hall. (Movie lovers, there's also a $6 popcorn surprise bag from Landmark Cinemas.) Since 2022, Alberta users have rescued more than one million meals through Too Good to Go, the organization said.

A deal on food is worth its weight in truffles these days, given the tariff hullabaloo with the United States and a soggy farming season amid ongoing inflation. To make it easier to find free or low-cost food, Food Security and Food Justice Ecosystem of Edmonton created a resource map, which has been used more than 4,000 times since it was introduced in June, organizers told Taproot. Meanwhile, Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton is focused on helping folks make the most of food they've grown, including at a sauerkraut workshop on Oct. 15.