From Surplus To Savings: Meet The CEO Of Too Good To Go
Join us as we dive into the innovative world of food waste reduction with Mette Lykke, CEO of Too Good To Go. This B Corp certified company connects consumers with food businesses to save surplus food from going to waste, offering a win-win solution for businesses, consumers, and the planet. During the discussion, Mette highlights the environmental impact of food waste—accounting for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions—while emphasizing the importance of awareness and solutions in tackling this pressing issue.
The episode takes you through the workings of their platform, including the popular "surprise bag" concept that provides consumers with discounted food items. As Too Good To Go expands into new markets and partners with retailers like Whole Foods, learn how their approach is reshaping the food industry and creating new opportunities for sustainability.
Takeaways:
- Too Good To Go connects consumers with food businesses to reduce food waste effectively.
- The platform allows users to buy surprise bags of surplus food at significant discounts.
- Food waste contributes to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions while millions go hungry daily.
- Retailers benefit from partnering with Too Good To Go through cost savings and customer acquisition.
- The surprise bag concept offers flexibility for stores while providing consumers with a fun experience.
- Too Good To Go plans to expand geographically and introduce new solutions in its value chain.
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Transcript
Hello, everyone.
Speaker A:This is omnitalk retail coming to you live from grocery shop.
Speaker A:It is day two, Anne, of this conference.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We are in Vegas.
Speaker B:We have made it through 24 hours.
Speaker A:24 hours in Vegas.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And we are again live from the fusion groups Booth.
Speaker A:Booth a two 10, a 210, as Ann likes to say.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Come on by.
Speaker A:We're gonna be here all day and all afternoon.
Speaker A:We've got a whole host of interviews slated to come your way.
Speaker A:But joining us now is a woman that I am very excited to introduce, and that is Mehta Luka, the CEO of a company that is making waves in Europe and that is starting to get a ton of much deserved press here in the states, I would add, too, and that is too good to go.
Speaker A:So, Mehra, thank you for joining us today.
Speaker C:Thanks a lot for having Mehta.
Speaker B:Tell those who might not be familiar a little bit about too good to go.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So too good to go is a B Corp certified social impact company.
Speaker C:We basically connect consumers with food businesses that have surplus food left by the end of the day.
Speaker C:So the way it works is, as a consumer, you open up our app free on the app store, and you can see what kind of food different food outlets expect to have left.
Speaker C:You reserve it on the app and then you just go and pick it up at an indicated time.
Speaker B:And for a us audience, this is available in the US.
Speaker B:I've used it.
Speaker B:It's a great, great product.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:It's amazing what you can find.
Speaker B:I mean, you're right.
Speaker B:There is so much that restaurants are trying to get rid of throughout the day.
Speaker B:And for, I mean, $20, you can get an entire bag of.
Speaker B:I mean, sushi that fed our whole sushi is a common one, I will say.
Speaker B:But the sushi from the day that just feeds your whole family for $20, it's great.
Speaker B:And it's not getting thrown away.
Speaker C:It really is one of those win win win cases.
Speaker C:It's good for the business, it's good for consumers, and it's good for planet.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:I think most people don't realize how big of an environmental issue food waste is.
Speaker C:So 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions are coming from food that we waste really doesn't make any sense.
Speaker C:At the same time, almost 800 million people go to bed hungry, and we're throwing away all this food on a daily basis.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And what do you oversee in your role as CEO?
Speaker C:So we are live now in 19 markets across three continents.
Speaker C:So Europe, North America, and now Australia.
Speaker C:Most recently, we have 100 million registered users on the platform, and we work with 170,000 different partner stores that have surplus food left every day.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:So, Mehda, you have a comprehensive range of solutions that you offer via the platform.
Speaker A:Can you share with our audience what those solutions are in specifics?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we have our marketplace.
Speaker C:So these are our surprise bags.
Speaker C:So this is basically where, say a restaurant or most recently here now in the US Whole Foods market, will put up for sale whatever food they expect to have left by the end of the day.
Speaker C:And then as a consumer, you get a roughly 70% discount.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:You go and pick that up at the indicated pickup time.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:So that's.
Speaker A:You reserve the bag in advance and you go pick it up.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker C:So that's the surprise bag.
Speaker C:Then we have two good to go platform, which is more an end to end food waste management system for retailers.
Speaker C:So here we help them with handling the expiry date management of the food products in the store.
Speaker C:So that consists of a couple of different elements.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:How does that work?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So one of them is recommending what to do with the food that is about to expire on the date.
Speaker C:So the thing about food waste is it's a pretty complicated thing because it's unpredictable.
Speaker C:You don't know exactly what you're going to have left.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So best practices, you need to have a couple of different tools in your toolbox.
Speaker C:So one of those tools could be discounting.
Speaker C:You discount it in the store.
Speaker C:We have now developed an AI module to help you optimize that discount.
Speaker C:Instead of just saying 30 or 50% on everything, it's actually optimized.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker C:Another element is then there's a price pack, you can put it on the marketplace.
Speaker C:And the third tool is you can donate it and then we can help connect you with the charities on the other end of it.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker C:So we have that full suite now, which is really a one stop shop for handling surplus.
Speaker A:So kind of a decision engine in the background that helps retailers understand exactly how best to dispose of the product in the most efficient way.
Speaker C:And each element can also stand alone.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:It's very powerful when you have all of it, but you can also have just the surprise bag or just the discounting meta.
Speaker B:You mentioned something recently about Whole Foods, and you've been making headlines here in the US because of your partnership with them.
Speaker B:It's like this whole concept of discounting food or making food that's about to expire available to people to buy that day.
Speaker B:It seems like it's such a well known or kind of a more easily conceivable thing in Europe.
Speaker B:But now going into the us market and into the place, like Whole Foods, tell us a little bit about how your partnership with them works, and maybe what was a little bit different about doing this for a us audience.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I think the way the partnership works with Whole Foods is the same way it basically works.
Speaker C:Most of the leading retailers in Europe, we have really worked hard to make it as easy as humanly possible for the store personnel.
Speaker C:We know that they're very short staffed.
Speaker C:They have a lot of things they need to get to.
Speaker C:They're super busy, so it needs to be easy.
Speaker C:So we really tried to make it almost as easy to save it and too good to go as it would have been for them to throw the food in the bin.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:And what is the process then look like from, like, a grocer's perspective?
Speaker B:Like, is this all food that they, you know, you help them kind of identify quickly, and then they pack it up in the bags?
Speaker B:Like, how does it all work and get to the marketplace platform?
Speaker C:It depends a little bit on what kind of category it is.
Speaker C:So if we take bakery, for example, then typically they know roughly how much is going to be left.
Speaker C:They just don't know the exact items.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:But that's where the surprise bag comes in.
Speaker C:You don't have to declare exactly what kind of food it is.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:That it's bread and cake, for example, and that'll be enough.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:What was the origin of the surprise bag concept, out of curiosity?
Speaker A:Like, why?
Speaker A:Why did you go in that direction?
Speaker C:Well, I think we decided to go with that because that is what gives the store the flexibility that they need.
Speaker C:Because if you ask the store to now declare, here's a salmon sandwich or a Caesar salad, they're not going to do that.
Speaker C:They don't have that kind of time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:So they don't know in advance.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So you don't have enough time to sell it if you only know an hour in advance.
Speaker A:And the consumer's okay with that because they're trading off the lower price for not knowing what is in the bag.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:From a consumer standpoint, it's this nice cocktail of you feel good about saving the food.
Speaker C:There's a fun discovery element.
Speaker C:The surprise is actually something.
Speaker B:The pastries are the best and the worst part of it, because there's always a pastry bag somewhere, and it's like, oh, my gosh, I have three giant donuts to consume by myself.
Speaker B:It's going to get done, but yes.
Speaker A:And I know you well enough.
Speaker A:That's never a problem.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Between you and I will figure out how to eat those donuts.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:So first time at grocery shop.
Speaker A:Have you been here before?
Speaker C:I have not been here before.
Speaker A:Not been here before.
Speaker A:Just got in late last night, too.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So kudos to you for handling the jet lag and coming and talking to us, but you're going to be on stage here later this afternoon.
Speaker A:What are some of the messages you plan on sharing to the audience here at grocery shop?
Speaker A:Maybe something that you haven't told our audience yet?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I think really, first just awareness around the issue of food waste and why it is a big thing, not just environmentally, but also for store efficiency and, you know, with low margins and inflation and all of that, it really makes a lot of sense.
Speaker C:And then talk a little bit about the best practices.
Speaker C:How can you actually reduce food waste closer to zero?
Speaker C:I think those are two of the main things.
Speaker B:And, Marik, what was some of the things when you were going to say a whole foods, that we're prohibiting them from doing something like a program like this before?
Speaker B:Is it the complexity that was required from other food saving platforms where it's knowing item level data?
Speaker B:Is that the kind of thing that kept retailers from maybe going all in on this, whereas too good to go is a little bit simpler?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I think our concept really is quite simple also for store efficiency.
Speaker C:And then there are a couple of advantages in teaming up with us here.
Speaker C:So one is just, I mean, first, of course, there's the CSI aspect of it, but there's also the marketing.
Speaker C:So very large part of our consumers will actually discover a store for the first time on the app.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:And then go see that store.
Speaker C:And then in many cases, more than half will buy something at full price now that they're in the store anyway.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:So there's a significant upsell opportunity in that and the marketing element.
Speaker C:And then, of course, that's the financial piece.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:You suddenly make money on the food you would otherwise have thrown away.
Speaker A:So it gives the grocers that work with you another distribution point or another awareness access point for potential new customers as well.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker C:They get to save the food that would otherwise go to waste, and they get new customers in the door and they do something good for the planet.
Speaker A:Yeah, it sounds like a win win.
Speaker B:It's definitely true of my experience.
Speaker B:Like, I didn't know about the sushi restaurant that we ended up.
Speaker B:We ended up doing the two good to go until I knew.
Speaker B:And now, yes, we have one more.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:Misses omnitoc's gonna be all over the place.
Speaker B:Oh, God.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Okay, well, let's close it up with kind of where the platform is.
Speaker B:You've made so many accomplishments.
Speaker B:You're in three different continents now.
Speaker B: What's ahead in: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we want to look at first, of course, there's a geographic expansion.
Speaker C:So I mentioned Australia.
Speaker C:We opened up less than a month ago now, and it's going really well.
Speaker C:So very interested in the whole APAC region, and we'll see where that goes.
Speaker C:But then we're also looking at where else can we introduce new solutions in the value chain?
Speaker C:And I think with the.
Speaker C:With the 170,000 partners we have now, we have a good opportunity to kind of introduce something new as well.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker B:Fantastic.
Speaker B:Well, thank you so, so much.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker A:Metaluca, the CEO of too good to go.
Speaker A:She's gonna be on stage later if you happen to catch this beforehand.
Speaker A:So go on, check her out, see what she has to say.
Speaker A:And we'll be back here later today with more great interviews from grocery shop, from the fusion group Booth.
Speaker A:Booth a 210.
Speaker A:And so until then, and as always.
Speaker B:And be careful out there.
