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Too good to go app to reduce food waste

miss direct

miss direct

misfungled
Does anyone else use this? Restaurants, cafes and supermarkets/bakeries sell off their unsold food at the end of the day cheaply. Not much choice in Sheffield but I have got a big selection box of very good sushi for £5.

Just looked up London as I'll be there soon and there are loads of places. Would love any recommendations. I rarely eat out so would be nice to sample some interesting things while I'm in London.
 
miss direct said:
Does anyone else use this? Restaurants, cafes and supermarkets/bakeries sell off their unsold food at the end of the day cheaply. Not much choice in Sheffield but I have got a big selection box of very good sushi for £5.

Just looked up London as I'll be there soon and there are loads of places. Would love any recommendations. I rarely eat out so would be nice to sample some interesting things while I'm in London.
Click to expand...
I used it for a bit but the novelty quickly ran out as there's so few veggie/vegan options,
 
Good idea in principle but I got cold feet after numerous anecdotal reports of shitty behaviour:
  • Staff treating app users like scroungers.
  • 'Magic bags' worth less than the amount paid by app users.
  • Business owners appearing to pre-make mediocre quality magic bags to satisfy demand - which rather defeats the purpose.
 
Wolveryeti said:
Good idea in principle but I got cold feet after numerous anecdotal reports of shitty behaviour:
  • Staff treating app users like scroungers.
  • 'Magic bags' worth less than the amount paid by app users.
  • Business owners appearing to pre-make mediocre quality magic bags to satisfy demand - which rather defeats the purpose.
Click to expand...
Yes, yes and yes.
 
Wolveryeti said:
Good idea in principle but I got cold feet after numerous anecdotal reports of shitty behaviour:
  • Staff treating app users like scroungers.
  • 'Magic bags' worth less than the amount paid by app users.
  • Business owners appearing to pre-make mediocre quality magic bags to satisfy demand - which rather defeats the purpose.
Click to expand...
Aw thats a shame, the places I've used it at here were really polite.
 
I wonder if places where people have been rude about it were places where staff were previously allowed to take home leftover food for free and the company selling it albeit at a low price via an app is taking it out of their mouths for just a couple of extra £ profit.

A lot of staff who work in the sector are very low paid and some rely on free food to take home at the end of their shift.
 
Epona said:
I wonder if places where people have been rude about it were places where staff were previously allowed to take home leftover food for free and the company selling it albeit at a low price via an app is taking it out of their mouths for just a couple of extra £ profit.

A lot of staff who work in the sector are very low paid and some rely on free food to take home at the end of their shift.
Click to expand...

Good point.

When I worked at M &S about 30 years ago (!) we had a shelf in the staff canteen where out of date food stock was sold to us for 10-20p a go. I've also worked in wedding catering where the free food was a significant perk.
 
Epona said:
I wonder if places where people have been rude about it were places where staff were previously allowed to take home leftover food for free and the company selling it albeit at a low price via an app is taking it out of their mouths for just a couple of extra £ profit.

A lot of staff who work in the sector are very low paid and some rely on free food to take home at the end of their shift.
Click to expand...

Good point. I shouldn't think the sushi place people fancy sushi every single night and obviously that's going to get binned due to the raw fish. But other places that's certainly a possibility.
 
miss direct said:
Good point. I shouldn't think the sushi place people fancy sushi every single night and obviously that's going to get binned due to the raw fish. But other places that's certainly a possibility.
Click to expand...

It is always traditionally a perk doing low paid work in that sector eg. as a kitchen porter or a dish washer or even in some jobs packing food for delivery, that you get something at the end of your shift for free - which given how shitty the pay can be, is a real help.

This seems to me like an additional way for these companies to make money and shit over their staff a bit more in the process. (My husband works in the sector, it is very low paid and free food that we get is a real benefit - if places he works for are selling it even at a reduced rate rather than letting him and his colleagues take it, then it is taking food out of our mouths, not out of the bins. And no they don't pay him anything like enough for him to pay for it).
 
Well I've used it a few times over the last week in London. There was basically nothing to eat in the place I am dog sitting so was worth a try.
Lola's cupcakes: this was good. 7 or 8 mini cupcakes beautifully presented, tasted fresh.
Bagel factory: this was a bit meh. One bagel filled with a mean scraping of tuna, 3 unsliced bagels, a cookie.
A cafe near where I'm staying: A wrap with something in, a quiche. Saving this for my journey tomorrow.

All were about £3 each.
 
Used it a few times before 2020 hit and I went places, was ok I guess.

Seemed to be 3 times for most stores - 3:30 - 4pm was mostly cakes, 5-6pm was your prets/hot stuff and 8pm was similar stuff but from more expensive places.

The weakest part of it was most shops listed stuff the night before and at best sold out early morning so if you need to take advantage at the last minute you were screwed.
 
Sandwich shops just used to leave unsold stuff outside their doors, at closing time, for homeless people to help themselves to. Does that still happen, or do they now use an app, to flog day old sarnies for £1.50?
 
It's similar to my issues with freecycle.
In my area it's better (imo) to put stuff out on the street, on a dry day - as in more likely to get to somebody on a smaller budget, than freecycle which requires Internet access etc. and which appears to be mainly used by relatively privileged people.

ETA It also seems to go much quicker from the street!
 
I've had 2 bubble teas this week for £3.68. No choice over flavour but I quite like the mystery of not knowing until I check the labels. I would usually buy boba but shudder at the price even though all the faff of boiling tapioca or sorting jelly makes it worth it. I've had a curry from a local place and it was good value for money but I've not bothered again.
 
mx wcfc said:
Sandwich shops just used to leave unsold stuff outside their doors, at closing time, for homeless people to help themselves to. Does that still happen, or do they now use an app, to flog day old sarnies for £1.50?
Click to expand...

In London most of this is now taken up by homeless charities doing a collection run, though the odd one still throws a bin bag full of stuff out periodically.
 
Used it two or three times. A bit underwhelming to be honest. But then that's not helped by Reading's equally underwhelming selection of eateries.
 
Shouldn't be allowed. Any food that's on its last legs should be mandatorily given to the homeless and anyone else who can't afford it. Every supermarket should be forced to do this, because none of the cunts seem to want to do it voluntarily.
 
Last edited:
There must be some settings for the notifications cos I’ve not had a single one.
Tried it a couple of times and had variable results, one place was great, one was ok, and one was just plain weird. Since covid none of the places in range seem to still be doing it.

I’d rather go rooting in the bins directly any day but that’s less and less of a thing.. consequence of the efforts to reduce food waste (which I broadly agree with but I miss the self help method being available for all).
 
I used this again yesterday and got a great haul. It was from a Spar, which is inside a petrol station. For £3, I got
a big pack of mushrooms
a muller rice
a ready porridge (that was breakfast with some fruit)
a pulled pork pretzel bun (that was really nice and not something I would ever buy)
two packs of ready cooked spicy chicken (straight in the freezer)
 
I've been using this recently with mixed results. Got one from West Cornwall Pasty Co which was disappointing (no pasties). Got one from the Co-op which was great. Loads of stuff, worth about £15 for £3.29.
 
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