A new program to tackle food waste has just launched in Toronto.

Too Good To Go is the world’s largest B2C marketplace for surplus food, and empowers the public and local businesses to fight food waste by offering ‘Surprise Bags’ of surplus food at the end of the day to stop it from going to waste.

As of July 21, Toronto is the first city in Canada to join the movement, and proud to launch with three beloved local businesses: Eataly, Greenhouse Juices, and Fresh City. These partners were selected because of their individual commitments to sustainable practices, and their existing efforts to help limit food waste in their production and distribution streams. There are currently more than 75 restaurant, bakery, and cafe partners who have teamed up with Too Good To Go including Mabel’s Bakery, Forno Cultura, and Summerhill Market.

Anyone with the app is able to purchase a ‘Surprise Bag’ of food at one-third of the retail price from local restaurants, bakeries, cafes, stores, and other food sellers. The Surprise Bag is unique to Too Good To Go and addresses the unpredictable nature of food waste, allowing businesses the flexibility to save any and all food, including prepared food and meals, that would otherwise go to waste.

This win-win-win model means businesses cut waste and generate income on food that would otherwise have been thrown out, and food lovers discover new businesses and delicious food. Currently, more than 50 per cent of all food produced in Canada goes to waste, higher than the global average of one-third.

“There’s a natural alignment for our app in Canada,” said Lucie Basch, Too Good To Go Co-Founder. “We’re excited about the potential the app has to make an immediate impact among Canadians, who pride themselves on being environmentally – and food waste-conscious, but who may not have access to the tools that help them be part of the solution. We know that the enthusiasm we’re feeling from our amazing partners in Toronto is just the beginning and we can’t wait for Torontonians to start discovering Surprise Bags and leading the movement in Canada.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory welcomed the environmental and business support Too Good To Go is bringing to the city, commenting, “As Toronto re-opens and customers return to regular buying habits, many small businesses will encounter new supply issues such as surplus food. Too Good To Go is the perfect solution to the massive food waste problem in our country. By connecting businesses to customers to help minimize food waste we can all do our part and get great food from local companies. We’re thrilled Too Good To Go has selected Toronto as their first Canadian city and welcome them into our vibrant community.”

When we were approached by Too Good To Go, we fell in love with the project and immediately recognized an organization that was like-minded to Eataly’s own culture and initiatives for reducing food waste,” said Nico Dagnino, Managing Director of Eataly Canada. ‘The app helps connect us with consumers across Toronto who are looking to enjoy the Eataly experience while saving products that might typically be discarded, such as our bread which is baked fresh every morning for the day ahead. With Too Good To Go, we’ve also integrated our Made in Eataly program, which includes a variety of housemade products from prepared meals to seasonal sides, and more. We couldn’t be more excited for the launch of this partnership.”

Too Good To Go is also partnering with Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto to support their vital existing work in the food insecurity space, and an in-app donation feature will let customers select ways in which to contribute to Daily Bread’s fight against hunger in the city.

The app, which already has more than 40 million active users in 15 international markets, has empowered Waste Warriors to save more than 82 million meals since 2016. In 2020 alone, Too Good To Go welcomed over 50,000 new partners and saved more than 28 million meals from going to waste. Toronto’s launch follows successful U.S. market launches in New York, Boston, DC, San Francisco, Portland and Austin and will expand throughout Canada in the coming months. The easy-to-use Too Good To Go app is available for iOS download in the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android.