Stark County residents can now rescue perishable food from restaurants and stores before it ends up in the trash.
The popular app “Too Good To Go” has now arrived in the Canton region, offering community members the opportunity to purchase groceries from local stores and restaurants while helping to reduce food waste.
Sarah Soteroff, spokeswoman for Too Good To Go, said the company won’t have its official nationwide launch until Wednesday, but many Ohio locations are already online and more are expected to be added in the next few days. The company has a presence in 25 states.
“We have around 20,000 partners across the country,” she said. “We’ve saved over 13 million meals from going to waste so far, which is incredible, and we’re growing every day.”
Soteroff said a large percentage of the groceries posted on the app are picked up by users on a daily basis.
“We get a lot of feedback that people want to support local businesses. This app allows people to do just that, while getting great food at a lower price and ultimately helping to reduce the impact of food waste on the environment,” she said.
What is “Too Good To Go”?
Too Good To Go is a Copenhagen-based company founded in 2016 with the goal of combating food waste. The company has 90 million registered users on its platform and 155,000 active business partners.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 30 to 40 percent of food is wasted in the United States. Too Good To Go aims to alleviate this problem by giving users access to food that would otherwise be thrown away.
The app allows users to purchase a “mystery bag” of products from participating stores at a discounted price, allowing companies to avoid food being thrown away.
How do I log on?
Interested parties can download the mobile app and create an account. Once the app is downloaded, users can make their food selections, reserve food for pickup, and pay for orders through the app.
Soteroff said there are no additional costs associated with using the app.
“There is no monthly subscription fee for the consumer,” she said. “You only pay for the exact groceries you pick up.”
Which places in Stark County are participating?
At the time of this story, Crack Corn in Jackson Township is the only location in Stark County available for ordering through the Too Good To Go app.
Crack Corn makes its popcorn without kernels and shells.
James Alay, owner of Crack Corn, said he received an email saying Too Good To Go was now available in Stark County, and his business became a member the same day.
“I was really excited for it to come to our community,” he said. “The app is very popular on TikTok, and when I visit stores in New York and Chicago, I use the app as well.”
Alay said the app has worked well for Crack Corn so far, helping the company repurpose many of its products.
“A lot of times, perfectly edible and perfectly delicious crack corn unfortunately goes to waste, (and) now we have an outlet for it,” he said. “Many people are getting to know our Crack Corn factory store here in Jackson for the first time thanks to this app.”
Which places in Ohio are participating?
Soteroff said there are many Too Good To Go locations in Ohio’s major cities.
“We currently have about 100 independent stores throughout Ohio,” she said.
If you want to see all locations in Ohio, you can find them in the Too Good To Go app.
