In the United States, between 30% and 40% of all food produced is wasted, and grocery stores can be a major contributor. Whether it’s packaged items past their sell-by date, bruised produce, or leftover bakery goods, one estimate says grocery stores generate nearly 5 million tons of surplus food a year.
Some of that goes straight to landfills or off to be incinerated, while another portion gets donated. Now, Whole Foods has a new way to divert food waste: customers can purchase discounted “surprise bags” of excess bakery or prepared foods through the surplus food app Too Good To Go.
Too Good To Go is now at more than 450 Whole Foods stores and aims to expand the offering to all its 530-plus stores around the country. It’s the first nationwide grocery chain partnership for Too Good To Go, which also sells bags of surplus food from cafés, restaurants, and local markets.
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