I’ve been using their app for some time now and really like the concept: Basically it allows restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets etc to announce when they have stuff leftover that they’d usually throw away at the end of the day. You can browse those nearby shops in the app and reserve a “surprise bag” for a small amount, usually around a third of the regular price, but it varies. In the pickup timeframe (usally around 30-60min before their closing time) you go there, show that you’ve reserved the bag in your app, confirm that you’ve received it and happily walk home with a ton of surprise food for super cheap.
After using it for a while I can especially recommend looking for food stalls at farmers markets as they often have lots of stuff leftover that they don’t want to take back home when packing up so they’re often super generous. Bakeries are also great, I regularly get a week’s supply of bread, buns, pastries and cake for like 3-5€.
EDIT: While it’s made in Denmark the app works globally or at least all of EuropeAFAIK, definitely works fine with lots of participating shops in Germany.
Still not sure if I like the concept. Technically it should reduce food faste. On the other hand, sellers don’t get punished enough by overproducing. Because now they can sell the left overs, vs. having to throw them away.
A bistro chain near me implemented that app. They offer mixed bags of whatever is left an hour before they close. Sound good but there is a question we should ask a lot more: does this need to be an app? Couldn’t they just discount everything in the last hour? Literally a piece of paper on a door “19:00 - 20:00, - 50%” would do exactly the same. Is it a sign of getting old if I hate unnecessary use of technology?
But if someone buys and eats the food then it’s not wasted, is it?
Yes, it is not wasted in this case. But why should I produce less food the next day, if I can still sell everything? Sure, they earn less, but still enough to cover the costs. So they have no motivation to reduce production, as the financial impact is not as big.
Ok but even if that was the case and they produce too much because they can sell the rest at a discount, it’s not really “too much” if everything gets sold and eaten. Why would they produce less than there’s demand for? I don’t really see a problem as long as the food doesn’t end up in a trash can.