Too Good to Go, pointless?

[Runnersandtoms]

Anyone successfully use Too Good to Go? I like the idea of it but the times I've tried it, I've just found it annoying. The places that get offered round here are Starbucks, which is just buying a load of sweet stuff I don't need, or Aldi or Co-op. Thought Aldi might yield some useful stuff. Got a massive box including 4 bags of broccoli/cauliflower and two huge bags of kale. All dated the day of collection. Collection was at 9pm. How can anyone use that much veg within a day before it goes off? Plus got some ready-made sandwiches (something we'd never buy and have no use for). Surely they shouldn't be able to give you piles and piles of duplicate stuff?

Our local Aldi has brought the collection time forward to 8pm as no one was using it when the collection time was 9.30pm.
I occasionally use the app to get the bags from Rowes Cornish bakery. Always a great selection and nice for a treat.

Ah come on, do you really and truly believe that veg goes off on the exact date that it says ‘use by’??? Seriously? Surely no one is that stupid?

Our carvery one was rubbish. Just filled with mash and peas (nothing else!) and a few very dried up pigs in blankets on top with some gravy chucked over it. Didn't get any choice at all and was just handed the round tub full.

If a store is closed the following day I find you get better deals, so like cooplands. Costa was very good at Christmas time, I find it a bit hit and miss to be honest

If you have an evening club, a load of pastries and sandwiches is potentially useful. Someone brought along a ton of them when we did a neighbourhood litterpick and people were on them like knives.

I plan to try it out over the Easter week end when trade level drops. There is a sushi place near me and a Gails Bakery. Both have 4.6 rating.

I used it a few times pre covid and it was rubbish. Mostly the dregs left at the end of the day. I get you are getting a discount but if the food you are given is stale vs full price fresh I don't see that as a real discount.

DS uses it like a lottery ticket, finding out if its a "good" or a "bad" bag is part of the fun.

If you're going to worry about using things exactly on their date, it's obviously isn't going to be for you, but the veg you list in your bag would be good for several days after its date.

It's supposed to about avoiding waste as much as it is saving money.

The way it works here is anything freezable goes straight in the freezer, cakes get taken to my parents (because they want them, I don't), and the next 2 days meals are planned with anything else. Unless it's something particularly high risk, like fish, we'll use it for at least 2 days if it looks and smells OK.

It’s definitely better in cities. If I’m in town and plan ahead early enough for a treat, I’ll try book a bag from a place that does specific things eg a cake shop, or a sushi bar. Near where I live the only thing TGTG is Aldi and a petrol station shop, I’m less willing to spend £4+ on what could be @DuskyPink1984twenty boxes of mushrooms (I hate them, I’d feel like crying 🤣) especially as I have very limited fridge & freezer space. I’ve feel like the prices of my ‘treat’ bags have gone up, though, so I’m more reluctant to take a risk on them these days.

We use it quite often. There are a couple of good ones near us who only ever sell one or two bags so you tend to get a good amount of stuff.

The Costa and Starbucks near us used to be really good when it first started, but they both now have a three item rule so there's no anticipation of what you might get. One of them isn't allowed to add anything else to bags or give extra bags if their 5/6 bags a night don't sell - it gets chucked in the bin. Which is absolutely not the point of TGtG - it's just a money maker for them now.

That's a good Aldi nab.

Imagine if the poster above was next to you with their 20 boxes of mushrooms 🤣

you can choose which business you include in your app though, i think?
but anyway: stick veg in the fridge (preferably in a plastic box or bag) and the next day freeze it. Broccoli would need to be blanched, and probably the kale too. i do this when i have too much veg, and use it for green smoothies.

The best one we ever got was a Waitrose service station when we were on holiday. We got 3 pizzas, some amazing kievs and a bundle of sandwiches. Did lunch and dinner for us all for a day for £5!

Filled the freezer of the wee caravan fridge - did give my DD a taste of their nice ham though, which she moans about every now and again as the nearest Waitrose to home is nearly an hour away 😂😂

My sister, who lives in a city, has used and found it good. When I visited we ended with a lovely meal from Leon for £3.50. A lot of the university students use it. You do have to be flexible with expectations though and just cook with what you're given. Her fallback is vegetable soup and then freeze portions.

You have to be very picky about where you buy from and be prepared to try some things out.
There's a facebook group in my area where people post what they got, so you can see whether there's a typical bag.
The broader the range of the shop, the more likely you are to get odd combinations or 32 heads of broccoli.
I concentrate on shops with a low product range, so that you can predict better what you will get (e.g. chocolate maker near me), or shops where I would buy and use almost anything in store (local grocer). I once got 45 quid's worth of chicken breast for under a fiver.
There's a bakery near me that does it and if I'm out for a walk at the right time I look in the window and see what's left before buying the bag and immediately picking it up.

The point is that whatever is left over is given away, so you take pot luck and if you are an ultra-fussy eater, you probably won't get much benefit from the scheme.

My student son and his friends and gf all use it. They usually use it as treats they otherwise wouldn't buy - takeaway places or bakeries. They other day he got 4X posh sandwiches, 7 sausage rolls, a lovely baked bread & 6X cakes. For 4 lads living together that's amazing. They do live in a city, so plenty choice.

One of his favourites is when he & gf manage to reserve a breakfast one & they get 4-6 lovely croissants/ pain au Chocolat from the posh cafe which are usually £3 each. Means they can keep some for others too & buy a nice coffee to go & the business is getting more revenue too.

Other son's gf uses Baynes bakery a lot at uni. She seems to get absolutely masses. There's 6 together in their halls, so a total win. Not exactly healthy, but a treat.

We use it for local bakeries on weekends when we work long hours so need quick food on the go. It’s usually a good mix of sandwiches and cakes. I found Starbucks to be hit and miss though.

There’s a super fancy bakery near us which sells delicious sourdough for £7 a loaf. I can rarely justify it. The last time we used TGTG we got 2 sourdough loaves, some cheese and ham pastries, doughnuts and a couple of cakes. It was probably worth about £25 - £30 and it only cost £6. AND it stopped the food being wasted. So I think it’s fab!

Oh, & when son worked at the airport the M&S there was awesome- he'd often get chicken breasts/ yummy ready meals/ lovely salads.

I got a similar carvery one from Toby. I complained and was refunded.

I only get them from the 'nicer' food places like Pret and Tortilla. I don't really like cold sandwiches or pastries so avoid coffee shops as even at the TGTG price they're not that cheap.

I usually avoid the supermarkets too as I don't want a load of crap bread ans we usually have plenty of veg and salad in anyway, but seeing as it lasts for quite a while after the use by date that wouldn't worry me. Anything ready made is fine the next day or can usually be frozen.

My last Pret 'dinner bag' was 2 hot chicken wraps, a macaroni cheese and a soup for about £3, was pretty pleased with that.

It really depends on who you’re buying from.
We’ve tried Costa before - £4 for fairly mediocre sandwiches, Caffe Nero - around four sandwiches plus pastries for about £3, so quite a lot and the quality fairly decent too.
The best one in our area is a local bakery/ cafe, their quality is amazing. They’re more expensive than Caffe Nero, but definitely worth it.

Does anyone know what actually happens to bouquets of flowers? I'd happily buy a few bunches at the end of the day. I've always wondered about that!

Pointless for me, every time I bought a bag it would get cancelled. Shops are clearly already doing all they can to reduce waste. I deleted the app in the end.

It's great if you are imaginative and batch cook. I've never had enough stuff to make a whole meal, it's always been multiple of the same item. So it's not great if you're on a budget and I don't understand why anyone suggests it on threads where the person is struggling.

I love it. I only use it for our local bakery who sell expensive sourdough.

Last week we got a load of sourdough, two posh pain au chocolat and two citrus buns for £4. Totally worth it.

We slice and freeze the bread.