Discount food app Too Good to Go partners with Tim Hortons
As inflation continues to drive up food prices, consumers are increasingly seeking ways to stretch their dollars. One innovative app is not only helping restaurants minimize food waste but also offering customers substantial savings.
Ali Cheaib, owner of Shawarma Garlic and Onion, says he is glad to have a way to reduce waste. "Definitely. In our industry, there was a lot of food waste."
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
The app, Too Good to Go, addresses this problem by enabling restaurants to sell their end-of-day leftovers at a discounted price, preventing perfectly good food from ending up in the trash.
"Anything that we're about to throw away at the end of the night, that not necessarily has to be thrown away, we can package it and sell it to people for a discounted price," says Cheaib. "Might be falafel, chicken or beef shawarma. And it's usually package with rice, potato, salad. And then we just put it in a container and the customer comes and picks it up."
Nat's Bread Company also concerned with food waste.
"Seeing all that and not having anywhere to put it is kind of heartbreaking sometimes." Says owner Natali Harea.
Through Too Good to Go, users can browse participating stores, reserve surprise bags of food, which may include baked goods or prepared meals, and pick them up during specified hours, effectively diverting surplus food from landfills.
"It's our hard work," says Harea. "Plus it's good food that somebody could eat, you know. So it is nice to have it as an option."
Too Good to Go recently announced a partnership with Tim Hortons, making its offerings available at all 2,000 locations across Canada.
Sarah Soteroff, Too Good to Go North America's Public Relations representative, highlights Tim Hortons' commitment to sustainability, emphasizing the importance of large brands investing in such initiatives.
"They are our biggest retailer, and they're making a real pledge to show that it's important for brands, especially at their level, to be investing in sustainability options and then using partners like Too Good to Go who can help to facilitate it across the country," says Soteroff.
For businesses like Shawarma Garlic and Onion, the app has not only reduced food waste but also boosted sales.
"Beginning it was a little slow, but definitely the last six months, it's booming," said Cheaib.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler is being disciplined for not having bodycam activated
The Kentucky police officer who arrested top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship is receiving “corrective action” for failing to have his body-worn camera activated.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account – and the life-changing moment was caught on video.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Students at Curé-Antoine-Labelle High School near Montreal are protesting after they say their school's administration started pushing what they call a 'sexist' dress code.
Air travel is expensive. WestJet wants the government to do more to change that
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
Hundreds have applied for this 'adventurer' job in Banff National Park
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
Dangerous brew: Ocean heat and La Nina combo likely mean more Atlantic hurricanes this summer
Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina.
U.S. senators write to Trudeau asking him to meet 2% GDP defence spending commitment
A bipartisan group of 23 U.S. senators have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging his country to live up to its commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence amid concerns that key members of the NATO alliance are not pulling their weight.
Potential tornado 'surreal' for residents who witnessed damaging storm in southern Ontario
Witnessing a potential tornado was 'surreal' for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.