App for discounts on surplus food from restaurants launches in Raleigh, Charlotte areas

A new European-based app designed to cut down on food waste has officially made its way to North Carolina.

Too Good To Go, the “world’s largest marketplace for selling surplus food” at a discounted price, is now available in Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and other surrounding areas in the state.

“We connect businesses who have food at different points throughout the day that didn’t sell for full price directly to consumers to purchase at a reduced goal,” Sarah Soteroff, a Too Good To Go spokesperson, told CharlotteFive. “The goal is ultimately to help that business not have to throw away the food, get consumers great food at lower costs and then also help to reduce the impact of food waste in the environment.”

The platform, which was founded in Copenhagen back in 2016, is available in cities across more than 17 countries, with plans to expand even further, including in North Carolina.

“We want to be everywhere…but we also want to choose places that from the outside, we think have good food scenes, good combo of population-based density and food density…but we can’t just exist in cities that we think are going to be environmentally friendly. We also have to exist in cities that have food scenes and regardless of how someone finds out about us, whether it’s for lower cost food items or because they’re sustainably-minded, at the end of the day, the impact is the same,” Soteroff explained.

“The reason we came to North Carolina is because we are kind of making our way down the coast and so we want to infill that,” Soteroff explained. “There are a ton of food selling businesses across the state and we want to make sure we’re capturing that food.”

How does the Too Good To Go app work?

Once you download the app and create a profile, you’ll be able to set your location to see a list of participating restaurants, cafes and stores offering “surprise bags” of any extra food items that would otherwise go to waste. The bags are priced at least half price or less of the normal value.

“If you’re a business owner, you’re not going to know everyday my exact itemization of every item that I have because if you did, you wouldn’t make it…The surprise bag allows them to enter all that food into the surprise bag,” Soteroff said. “Everyday is different, which is really fun, because it means you can shop at the same store everyday and get a different bag everyday.”

There are multiple local and chain restaurants and cafes you’ll be able to buy pick-up orders of surprise bags from across the state. Here’s a look at some of partners you can grab a bite from through Too Good To Go:

Participating restaurants in Charlotte area

• Bedder Bedder & Moore

• BIGGBY COFFEE

• BrightStar Grill

• Burrito Loco

• Cinnaholic

• Corner Cafe and Catering

• Country Donutz

• dish

• Frabjous Catfe

• Haraz Coffee House

• Honeycomb Cafe

• It’s Alive Foods

• Italian Garden Restaurant

• Johnny Tomatoes

• Krispy Kreme

• La Panadería

• Los Reyes 2

• Los Tres Magueyes

• Love In Action Cafe

• Love is Love Always (LILA)

• Mama’s Italian - Restaurant & Bar

• Maple Meal Prep

• Mezah

• Momo Station

• Munchies Wings and Grill

• Nguyen’s Noodles & Tea

• Nonna Maria’s Italian Deli & Market

• Phat Daddy’s Cafe

• Pizza Sapienza

• Red Bowl

• Riverbend Creamery

• Romeo & Juliet Brazilian Cafe

• Serengeti Kitchen

• Smallcakes

• SosiLegX

• Sweet Cakes Bakery

• Tarascas Sweets Cafe

• The Everyday Market

• The Peach Cobbler Factory

• Tiff’s Treats

• Tita’s Cake House

• Vicente Bistro

• Waterbean Coffee

• Yay Yogurt and Yuca

• YUMMI MUFFIN

Participating restaurants in Raleigh-Durham area

• Amitie Macaron Bakery & Cafe

• BE Bakery

• Bluegrass Bagels

• Boozie Bakes

• Brecotea Bakery & Cafe

• Bronco Tacos

• Bull City Confectionaries

• Bulldega Urban Market

• Cafe Soul Cups

• Che Empanadas

• Cinnaholic - Fayetteville

• Cupcake Dream, LLC

• East Durham Sweet Shoppe

• Empanadas & More

• Everbowl

• Ice Rolls Cafe

• Iris Coffee Lab

• Juiced! Juice Bar

• Kandy Apples By K

• Kitoko Bites

• Krispy Kreme

• Kung Fu Tea

• La Farm Bakery

• Little Barb’s Bakery

• Los Tres Magueyes Green Level

• Michaels English Muffins

• Milad Indian Cuisine

• MILKLAB

• New York Bagel & Deli

• Notchamama’s Cookies

• Notes Coffee House

• NY Corner Pizza

• Paris Baguette

• Rudino’s Sports Corner

• Sharetea

• Sodabox

• Stick Boy Bread Co

• Sweets By Shayda

• Tea Q Boba

• Tepuy Donuts

• The Coffee Being Coffee Bar

• The Third Place Coffee Shop

• Tiff’s Treats

• Tikka Taco

• Treat Yo’ Self Bakery

• Triangle Coffee House

• Whirligig Popcorn Shoppe

• White Swan BBQ & Fried Chicken

“Too Good To Go really lives in that win-win-win approach,” Kendall Hollings, CEO of Smallcakes, told CharlotteFive. “All of our Small Cakes locations are independently owned and operated so when customers utilize the app, it’s benefiting these small business owners in these communities. Also, minimizing food waste — we look at it as our responsibility to make a positive impact in the communities around us, so by minimizing this food waste, we’ve seen opportunity to be part of the solution for this.”

Too Good To Go is available for free in the App Store and on Google Play.

This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "App for discounts on surplus food from restaurants launches in Raleigh, Charlotte areas."

Chyna Blackmon

The Charlotte Observer

Chyna Blackmon was a service journalism reporter for The Charlotte Observer. A native of the Carolinas, she grew up in Columbia, SC, and graduated from Queens University of Charlotte. She’s also worked in local television news in Charlotte, NC, and Richmond, VA. Support my work with a digital subscription