A woman went viral when she showed viewers how much food she was able to get off the food salvage app Too Good To Go.
TikToker Kinsleigh Pa’u (@kinsleighpau) posted the short video to demonstrate how useful the Too Good To Go app really is. The video has been viewed over 153,000 times as of publication.
Kinsleigh filmed the clip shortly after picking up donuts using the app.
“OK, I’m freaking out. Last night, I was on TikTok, and I saw someone post about ordering on an app called Too Good To Go, and basically, what it is is an app that these restaurants will sell food for really cheap so it doesn’t go to waste. So you help eliminate food waste,” Pa’u said.
“So I paid $6 for this guys,” she said, holding up a large bag stuffed with donuts. “It’s like a surprise. You don’t know what you’re going to get. I just picked up my order. This is crazy; I paid $6 for this. It’s an entire bag. If you have not tried this app, download it, guys.”
“It is literally over a dozen donuts,” she continued. “I’m not going to eat all these, so I think I’m going to go give them out to some homeless people or someone who can have these ’cause I cannot eat all these. I just had to check it out. Download the app if you haven’t, help eliminate food waste, and save some money.”
Viewers who hadn’t heard of the app thanked her for the information.
“Just ordered one for tomorrow! Let’s see! Thanks for introducing me,” a viewer said.
“Finally!!! My job at Starbucks as a teenager kept all of us supplied with munchies. Soooo much wasted,” another said.
@kinsleighpau This is insane #toogoodtogo ♬ original sound – Kinsleigh Pa’u
Others who use the app shared extra details.
“I love them app. There’s a little of everything on the app. Depending where you’re from,” one said.
“It’s been a life saver. I’m in SF and there are little markets that do produce,” a second added.
A store owner even explained how the pricing works. “As a business owner, I’ve done this,” they wrote. “For a $6 bag I have to put in $18 worth of product. We can put more if we want but we’re supposed to put an equal amount per bag. It’s a good app for sure! Keep checking bc you never know when a place will have bags avail.”
The Too Good To Go app specializes in selling food that would otherwise go to waste. According to the website, the app is free to use. Customers can see which stores have Surprise Bags available on the Discover page. After choosing a Surprise Bag, customers can reserve a pick-up time and confirm their purchase. The company states that more than 10,000 supermarkets, bakeries, and restaurants, including Cava, have partnered with it.
Founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2016, the app can be found in 17 countries. It is also available in major cities across the United States, including Boston, Baltimore, the New York metropolitan area, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Providence, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Portland, Maine, and Portland, Oregon. The app is also available in most major Texas cities like San Antonio, Houston, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth. The app is continually expanding, so check it out to see what’s available in your area.
In an email to the Daily Dot, a Too Good To Go representative explained the company’s expansion goals and pricing model.
“We are consistently expanding across the US,” they wrote. “We are currently active in 15 states and approximately 22 city-markets. Our goal is to reduce food waste globally, everywhere that it occurs, which means we will need to be in every market and on every phone. To expand responsibly we enter into markets with an indie sales team, sign a strong threshold of stores and then officially launch with marketing support. We announce our latest markets exclusively on our social channels.”
Regarding pricing, the representative noted that it varies, but bags are usually low-cost. “There is not a price cap, though we have found bags between $3.99-6.99 are the sweet spot,” they wrote. “Some partners may have higher value or specialty items, in which case you can find bags that are higher than those values, but our typical bags are below $10 (which means the consumer is getting upward of $30 worth of food.)”
Though the app is intended to help eliminate food waste, some customers have gone viral for acting out if they don’t get their order the way they’d like. One customer tried to guilt trip a barista for a better bag, while another attempted to break into a store three minutes after closing to secure their bag.
The Daily Dot reached out to Kinsleigh Pa’u via email for further information.
