“I love that I don’t have to think about what I’m going to cook today and eat what they give me.” This is how blunt shows Marilla Valery, a resident of Mallorca and user of the Too Good To Go application, the company that helps establishments not have to throw away food and empowers consumers in this fight. A tool whose objective is “to make everyone feel an active and fundamental part of solving a problem such as food waste”, explains Carlos Padilla, press officer for Too Good To Go and ‘waste warrior’, as they are described internally in the company.

Since the company broke into the Balearic Islands in mid-2019, more than 120,000 food packs have already been saved. “This is equivalent to having avoided the waste of more than 120 tons of food,” says Padilla. Thanks to all the food saved, “on the islands alone we have managed to save the emission of more than 300 tons of CO2, which would be the equivalent of the emissions of 59 planes going around the world,” he adds.

Currently there are more than 300 establishments that have joined the initiative in the Balearic Islands and in the case of Mallorca there are just over 220 businesses that are combating waste through the application. The participating businesses are very diverse: from small businesses or local chains, to large stores such as Carrefour and Alcampo, among others.

“Like opening a present”

Marilla is a Too Good To Go enthusiast. “I use the app mainly to save money, but I love the fact that we save food and use it instead of throwing it away. Personally, I don’t waste food, as there are people in this world who need food.” In addition, the surprise factor is another of the values that this resident of Palma highlights. “Apart from knowing that it is a bakery, a supermarket or a restaurant, you do not know what you will receive. When you pick it up, it’s like opening a present.”

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The application shows the participating establishments near the client. Photos: Too Good To Go.

The app shows users the time and where they can pick up these batches of food. In addition, they can give their opinion and write reviews that help other customers. Like Roberta de Benedictis, who admits to having used Too Good To Go “a couple of times”. According to this Italian living in Palma, “it’s a great idea, it has many options and it’s fantastic that the food they’re going to throw away is sold for very little money. For me, they have found an efficient method to take care of the planet.”

Great reception in the islands

From Too Good To Go they are “very happy with the great reception that the initiative is having on the islands. This is a demonstration that society is becoming more aware of the problem of food waste and that more people and businesses on the islands believe that change is possible. All of them want to contribute their grain of sand to help curb the waste figures and that all that food that is left over at the end of the day can have a second chance and be used”.

For Padilla, the key is not only that the food does not end up in the garbage, but “to avoid all the impact that this entails, especially for the planet. Food waste is estimated to be responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which means it is as polluting as all road transport,” she concludes.