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???

@H8theW8

DH has just been to pick up a 'meal' from an independent restaurant. First time we've tried the Meal option. The restaurant does Bao Buns, Burgers, Fries, Chicken, etc. £4 instead of £12 for a magic bag. We ordered one each and both received the same. A tiny box containing HALF a sandwich and a tiny chicken goujon.

Less than impressed, not only with the amount but also the quality. It was a soggy, sloppy, tasteless mess! I've emailed TGTG with photos so hoping to get a refund. It wasn't £8 worth of food, never mind £24 👎🏼

That's dreadful, H8theW8, so mean of the restaurant. I'd be complaining too and would probably boycott the place.

There is a pub nearish to me that does it but I want to see what you get before I bother

@NotJustACigar Shocking isn't it! It had really good reviews too, I'm so disappointed.... and hungry! I will never order from there again and will definitely be warning friends/family off the place x

There is 15% off earth & wheat first order

Use MIB15 for 15% off your first box!

@NotMyCat I see it’s subscription, how often do they deliver? You box is massive, I wouldn’t have freezer space for that every fortnight & that looks like it would last us ages.

@GrrRightBackAtYou you can choose, and also pause it. So mine is set to every 2 weeks but you can pause it, then pick the date you want to resume it
I usually keep a pack of wraps out and freeze the rest. The naan/flatbreads/pitta don't take up much room, I would say it's the crumpets that are the most bulky

Thanks for the info, I will sign up and give it a go.

I wish I could! I think it's a great idea. I'm gluten free though, so I don't think it would be any use for me

Can I just thank the the op and the pp who mentioned the olio app I’m in central London a single mother in the middle of a move and really strapped for cash these apps are priceless just signed up to olio and at the other end of my street there is someone giving away an IKEA children’s table that o have the chairs for and there’s atleast 3 sushi places giving away bags for a fiver within 10 mins walk of my house amazing love mumsnet for finding out things like this

I get garage bags mainly. I got one greggs bag but there was so much junk inside it I haven't bothered again. Most of the bags are filled with carbs so I limit to places that do fresh foods. Usually get plenty of fruit and veg from the local garages on the app

Ok we just collected our m and s bag from the petrol station. Included: pasta pesto salad, large Italian salad, bag mixed leaves, chicken Mexican style, sour dough bagels and a scotch egg. DD correctly predicted it would contain a scotch egg. I’m baffled by that but she’s thrilled at the power of her mind. All the food looks nice and we are enjoying a late picnic style supper. Result.

@NotJustACigar

Like quite a few of us I got my first Morrisons bag today:

7 punnets of raspberries
6 punnets of nectarines
2 punnets of blackberries
1 punnet of strawberries
And around 10 bags of salad most of which will probably go in the compost bin as it's starting to get a little slimy.

I'm very happy with that as I eat a ridiculous amount of fruit. I'll probably make some raspberry jam and will share out the nectarines with my parents - they're still firm enough that I think they'll last quite a while.

I’d love that bag. I eat tons of fruit

@H8theW8

DH has just been to pick up a 'meal' from an independent restaurant. First time we've tried the Meal option. The restaurant does Bao Buns, Burgers, Fries, Chicken, etc. £4 instead of £12 for a magic bag. We ordered one each and both received the same. A tiny box containing HALF a sandwich and a tiny chicken goujon.

Less than impressed, not only with the amount but also the quality. It was a soggy, sloppy, tasteless mess! I've emailed TGTG with photos so hoping to get a refund. It wasn't £8 worth of food, never mind £24 👎🏼

That’s terrible!

I now have another Morrison’s bag to collect tomorrow but I also just ordered a Morrison’s daily bag (petrol station one) mainly because I want to see if the petrol station one is any good. It’s closer to me so I would rather go there then a big Morrison’s.

I just happen to be going close to the big one tomorrow again and timed it to be a similar time to when I have to collect my bag.

I won’t be going good shopping this week now though except to collect fresh milk. We already have meat in the freezer and lots of fruit & veg now lol

I'm going to try and get one this week
My app shows Morrisons, greggs and a costa locally. Interestingly there is still one showing remaining on the morrisons daily which is pretty close to me

@H8theW8

DH has just been to pick up a 'meal' from an independent restaurant. First time we've tried the Meal option. The restaurant does Bao Buns, Burgers, Fries, Chicken, etc. £4 instead of £12 for a magic bag. We ordered one each and both received the same. A tiny box containing HALF a sandwich and a tiny chicken goujon.

Less than impressed, not only with the amount but also the quality. It was a soggy, sloppy, tasteless mess! I've emailed TGTG with photos so hoping to get a refund. It wasn't £8 worth of food, never mind £24 👎🏼

There is a burger place near me that is on the app so we ordered. £4 each. One daughter got burger and chips one got burger and onion rings. It was just about ok for £4 but there is no way it was £10 worth - we have had a burger from there once before and this was not the same quality / size. I also didn't understand why their slot was from when they opened. I think they just use as a way of selling cheap burgers. I am now wary of any restaurant type place that has a slot thats not at the end of the day and would probably not order from them.

Getting these magic bags are a bit addictive

It's really addictive!!
I'm picking up another Morrison's bag today & another one from a little sandwich place

@Vanilla1Cookies

Getting these magic bags are a bit addictive

I think it's the surprise element isn't it? This thread keeps making me want to look for another bag...... I must resist!!

@Tiddleztheelephant

Yes 100%.

It’s like will I get anything I like or not. Although once I get the 2 today I won’t be getting anymore for a week to use up what we have!

Kids had bagels for lunch with the fruit.
Iv had a couple of bits of fruit today and a bagel.

Making a tomato med soup for tea tonight for myself to use the veg pack up and using the potatoes to go with chicken for kids and OH tea.

Salad tomorrow to use up other bits.

I dehydrated the kiwis and some left over fruit I had for the rabbits I have.

Lucky we eat a lot of fruit and veg in this house.

@howtohelp99 that's a good point! Collection for ours was between 8pm - 8.15pm but the restaurant didn't close until much later! I agree, seems like they are using this scheme as a money spinner. I've not heard back from TGTG yet but it did say 'response within 3 days'.

@howtohelp99 I lie! Just checked and the email says, 'we'll get back in touch as soon as possible'.

Just got a refund on my bag from yesterday. I’m still annoyed as it’s all such a waste and I’d rather pay and get a decent bag.

My bag from Morrison's today! Pretty good!

Morrison’s bag today.

The raspberry’s were thrown around those and had juice everywhere. I saved half and put them in the freezer for a smoothie and the other half I had to bin.