‘Too Good To Go’: Twin Cities business owners partner up with food app

MINNEAPOLIS — Over at Fletcher’s Ice Cream and Cafe in Minneapolis, owner Jason Fletcher is proof that it is never too late to make a change.

“I was working at a job that I saw that people weren’t very happy at, and I didn’t want to be that way,” Fletcher said. “I wanted to do something that I love, and I love people and I love food.”

The rest is history. His cafe has been going strong for almost 9 years.

For Fletcher, his change started with one small step. Now, it’s the same way he approaches food waste.

“From the get go it’s always been really important for us not to have food waste. We’re really conscious about ordering the right amount of food,” Fletcher said. 

It is why Fletcher’s is one of several local businesses teaming up with the Too Good To Go app. 

Sarah Soderoff is a spokesperson for the company.

“Too Good To Go is the world’s largest marketplace for selling surplus food,” Soderoff said. “We connect businesses who sell food directly to consumers to purchase that at a pretty steep discount.”

You can find all types of food sellers on the app: from bakeries to grocery stores to sushi restaurants.

“A surplus of food that is still edible, still perfectly safe to consume, probably was made in-house that day and just didn’t sell,” Soderoff said. 

The app started in 2016 with the mission of reducing food waste.

According to the nonprofit Feeding America, Americans waste 92 billion pounds of food annually. Add it up: That’s close to $500 billion of food that ends up in a landfill.

On the Too Good To Go app, a restaurant can list any food that didn’t sell during the day for a price that is a fraction of the initial cause. 

The benefit goes both ways – excess food stays out of the landfill, while the businesses recoup what would otherwise be lost revenue by not having to throw away that food.

The app is live in 33 cities and counting. After launching in the Twin Cities late last year, Soderoff said it has already made a huge impact.

“Across Minneapolis, we save more than 94,000 meals from waste, which is incredible,” Soderoff said. “We really want to get to that 100,000 meal mark.”

Fletcher credits the app for helping to reduce their food waste. He’s proud to be a part of the change that the app is trying to create.

“This is our earth, you know, this is our place,” Fletcher said. “It’s just important for everybody to be conscious about what we’re throwing in our garbage, you know, whether it be food waste or paper or plastics.”