Whole Foods Will Offer Discounted ‘Surprise Bags’ of Surplus Food Items
The food waste reduction effort is part of a partnership with Too Good To Go.
Photo courtesy of Whole Foods, Too Good to Go
It used to be people would joke that Whole Foods would cost their “whole paycheck” when buying their weekly groceries. But lately, with inflation hitting just about every product imaginable, food shopping can be expensive pretty much anywhere you go. And while supermarket prices are finally dropping, Whole Foods has just announced another way that shoppers can enjoy some of their favorite products while saving a few bucks.
The certified organic grocery chain is teaming up with Copenhagen-based Too Good To Go, a certified B Corp company that connects users of its app with food that might otherwise go to waste. Too Good To Go already operates across 18 countries including parts of Europe and the U.S. and boasts over 100 million registered users.
The program works by having Too Good To Go users browse locally available “Surprise Bags” on its app. Bags feature significantly discounted food items that are still perfectly fine to consume, but would otherwise go to waste. Once reserved, customers can then pick their bags up at whichever store they’ve chosen, and that growing list of partners now includes 450 Whole Foods locations nationwide.
Whole Foods stores will offer Prepared Foods Surprise Bags — meaning they’ll contain things like ready-to-eat meals and soups — and Bakery Surprise Bags, containing items like fresh bread, muffins, and scones. The Prepared Foods Bags will cost $9.99 for $30 worth of food, while the Bakery Bags will cost $6.99 and contain $21 worth of products. All bags from Whole Foods will contain products normally sold at that store location.
LifeMosaic Photography | Christi/Photo courtesy of Whole Foods, Too Good to Go
To order Whole Foods’ Surprise Bags (and to pay for them upon pickup), customers will need to sign up for the Too Good To Go app. Surprise Bags will be ready for pickup within a designated time window at a local Whole Foods location, however they are paid for in-app, (so any other groceries will require a separate checkout). A Too Good To Go spokesperson said each store may handle the distribution for bags differently, so look for specific instructions with your order.
“We are thrilled to be part of the Too Good To Go community,” Caitlin Leibert, Vice President of Sustainability at Whole Foods Market, stated. “As part of our purpose to nourish people and the planet, we continue to invest in new and innovative ways to keep unsold food out of our landfills and empower our customers to make environmentally conscious choices. We’re proud of the work we’ve done — just last year we donated nearly 34 million pounds of food to food programs across the country — but are so excited to expand that work with the help of Too Good To Go.” Whole Foods Market is also touting the partnership as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce food waste in half by 2030.
“We are excited to join forces with Whole Foods Market, a company known for its dedication to quality and one that shares our passion for sustainability,” Chris MacAulay, Too Good To Go’s VP of Operations in North America said. “A significant milestone, this collaboration allows us to give millions of consumers across the country a simple way to join the fight against food waste.”
According to Too Good To Go, the World Wildlife Fund has estimated that, as of 2021, about 40 percent of all food produced globally ends up going to waste. Thus far, Too Good To Go claims it has saved over 300 million meals since its founding in 2016, with over 120 million of those in 2023 alone.
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