too good to go food waste app - anyone else use it?

[TheGenealogist]

Huge fan of this app - friend told me about it over lockdown and after I'd had my first "magic bag" I was hooked! The basic idea is that you pay for a lucky bag of food from a local retailer which would otherwise have gone in the bin. Picked up a bag from a M&S petrol station shop last night, cost me £4, got two large packs of salmon, two panini wraps, two packs of sandwiches, a side salad, a bag of mixed veg, and a pack of melon. Greggs also do bags which the kids enjoy - most of the bags we've had from there have a couple of the bakes, sausage rolls, cakes, pastries.

Yes it's all short-dated, yellow sticker stuff but lots can be frozen. Or eaten the next day. Definitely worth looking at if you're flexible about what you eat. Lots of restaurants do it too, although pick up times can be much later in the evening.

Any other fans???

[Notthecarwashagain]

Yes! I only get the Greggs or Starbucks ones because we’re vegetarian and I don’t want to be lumbered with a joint of meat or something

Love it! Probably put on 2 stone though from all the cake though!

[BigGreen]

Yes we do. I usually use it to get leftover loaves from the farmers market and then eat lush toast for about 3 days!

Got some from the local veg shop but it was a bit too random.

[TheGenealogist]

Haven't seen any Starbucks near me.

Locally, we have Greggs, Costa, the M&S at the garages, Cafe Nero. Few restaurants in the city centre.

I have heard the Morrisons bags can be very good but they're always snapped up very quickly.

I quite like the randomness. We're not particularly fussy in this house and no dietary requirements. I probably wouldn't actively choose to buy a meatball wrap thing from M&S but happy to try it in a magic bag.

The only thing we really didn't like was the M&S cheese and pasta salad bowl, really heavy with mayo and I didn;t like the combo of cold pasta, salad and grated cheese.

[AdaThorne]

My dad and I are both obsessed with it. I got it first and got the M&S bags and occasional bits from the local baker. But dad lives in central London and so is a man obsessed. He ended up using it a lot around lockdown as ways to structure his walks for exercise - suddenly I’d get a photo of teeny delicious French pastries from Paul’s or a platter of sushi that he’d walked to go and get from somewhere or other.

I wish we had more stuff that came up on it locally, it’s a fab idea!

[TheGenealogist]

Jealous of your dad.

The app is worldwide too - I follow them on twitter and quite like seeing what exotic delights other people are picking up.

My teen DS is learning to drive, late evening is perfect for a practice drive in our car and its easy to plan a route driving past a pick up...

[redtshirt50]

yes! I love this app - when I used to live in London it was great.

I used it for sushi lots

[EssentialHummus]

Yes, love it! Especially one local bakery that basically doles out £15 worth of bread, sarnies, pies, cakkes, doughnuts etc. Nom. Sushi is good too - not very near but if I'm in the mood I'll drive 15 min or so for it. Other restaurants variable but you soon learn.

[CrouchEndTiger12]

I found it rubbish. Got 3 egg sandwiches once that went in the bin anyway

[TheGenealogist]

It can be hit and miss and some bags are better than others. Don't think i've ever had anything as miserable as three sandwiches though.

[Elys3]

I was excited about it but have now deleted the app after the parcels being disappointing and not worth the money. It is not as though they are free and you have the inconvenience of having to bid for them and collect them at specific times. The worst was one from the local butcher, it cost over £3 and I had to throw most of it away as it was already starting to smell bad the next morning.

[Chimchar]

We've had great success with it.
We had super posh cup cakes, pastries, artisan bread, burritos, pizzas, beer, and all sorts!
We try and look for local independent places that we know or would like to try, but are usually out of our budget.

My friend had a bag from the local spar and it had rustlers burgers and pasties in it.

[LeithPlace]

One of my DS's uses it in Edinburgh. He often collects a full, cooked English breakfast from the Ibis hotel.

[MotherWol]

I’ve just started using it, I’m in central London so lots of choice, although a lot of it is bread and pastries. My best find so far has been a dozen proper bagels from the artisan bakers for £2.50!

[TheGenealogist]

Just checked the app - I usually filter "hide sold out" so I'm not seeing things which are unavailable. Lots of independent bakeries and restaurants along with the usual Pret, Greggs, Cafe Nero. I'm obviously not on the ball enough with checking.

But on the other hand it's a trek into the city to pick up a bag which might not be worth it. Quite happy with my regular M&S hauls though.

[TheGenealogist]

@LeithPlace

One of my DS's uses it in Edinburgh. He often collects a full, cooked English breakfast from the Ibis hotel.

Pret are offering breakfast bags here for £3, would be excellent if you're in town already and wanting breakfast.

Downsides of living in suburbia. I have told a lot of friends with student offspring about it though, it's a fairly cheap way of eating and trying a variety of things (if you're not just ordering from Greggs)

[LindaEllen]

Yes, we love the Greggs ones! DSS and DP sit like absolute pigs going through the stuff and I have to be the bad guy (aka voice of reason) suggesting that perhaps they could save something for the next day ..

[TheGenealogist]

We have three teens in this house - no food lasts for long. Had a few bags a couple of months ago with sausage and bean bakes which went down a storm.

[SCMocha]

I downloaded it, but it was always really really carb heavy stuff around here - bags of leftover bakery stuff etc, and as I live alone and am trying to lose weight, I decided it was really better not to look at it as I'd be tempted too easily. When you get things for free/cheap, there is a tendency to end up eating more of them than you should 'because it was a good deal'!

[inmyslippers]

Love it! But can't fit in my jeans after living on Greggs 😆so taking a break

[PissedOffNeighbour22]

The only thing that seems to be available where I live is Morrison's and I've heard bad reviews about what you get in them so I don't bother. They do sell out fast though.

[TheGenealogist]

I certainly wouldn't be ordering a Gregg's bag if I lived alone, it's obviously just baked goods as that;s all they sell. Other bags are much more varied.

[Bythemillpond]

Can’t download the app atm as forgot my password so can’t check but do they do vegan or vegetarian bags or is it just a mixed bag of everything

[kezziethegingercat]

Yes! I don't like premade sandwiches so have stayed away from m&s etc and have only used it for our local bakery and independent coffee shop so far but got a huge bag of pastries from both. Part of the fun is not knowing what you'll get!

[EssentialHummus]

Some places do @Bythemillpond.

[JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn]

I love the M&S one by me... I've had to stop doing it now though as I need to lose all my lockdown weight and the goodies I was getting were not helping! I lost my job last year and this app was a godsend to me