STORY: PROMOTED: The win-win-win solution that’s helping bakeries fight food waste

Every day, the UK wastes 900,000 tonnes of bread, or 90 Eiffel Towers’ worth. It’s a scale that’s difficult to fathom - but as anyone in the bakery sector knows, it isn’t hard to believe - and bread waste is just the tip of the iceberg.

“As a business, it’s important for us not to have empty shelves,“ says Curtis Williams, Sales Director of North London bakery chain Wenzel’s. “We need enough variety of product so that when customers come into a Wenzel’s store, they have choice and availability. It’s a fine balance.“

To help tread the balance, Wenzel’s uses Too Good To Go: the app that lets businesses sell ‘Magic Bags’ of surplus food to local customers. 

The flexibility of Too Good To Go - whereby customers buy Magic Bags through the app, then pick them up at a time set by the store - allows businesses to put their food in the hands of happy customers, all while earning revenue on would-be wasted items. Food sold through Too Good To Go is priced at a third of its original value, so it’s a win-win for both customers and businesses. 

But reduced food waste and incremental revenue aren’t the only benefits. Increased visibility among locals is a significant factor: research has shown that 76% of customers who discover a new business through Too Good To Gowill return as full-paying customers.  

“Customers come in for a slice of cake on the app, and then come back for their birthdays to order specific cakes as regular customers,” says Fulop Gabor, Managing Director of London bakery Jack & Beyond.

For Gabor, it’s also about making sure hard work is enjoyed: “We know how much time and care the kitchen puts into our cakes, and for it to go to waste is too sad to comprehend.”

Think Too Good To Go could benefit your business? Sign up between 5 April 2021 and 18 April 2021, and be in with a chance of winning a window makeover valued at £1,000. T&Cs apply, visit toogoodtogo.co.uk to find out more.