Newcastle bakery giant Greggs has reached a significant sustainability landmark after preventing over five million meals from going to waste.
The Tyneside based business teamed up four years ago with surplus food company Too Good To Go, which operates an app that helps companies to prevent waste while also steering people to places looking to offload unsold food.
The social enterprise鈥檚 free app allows people to search for businesses in their area offering unsold items which they can then buy as a 鈥榤agic bag鈥, filled with food at a fraction of its original retail value, to be collected at an allotted time.
Surplus food can be rescued from more than 2,000 of Greggs鈥 shops across the 海角视频 and each surprise bag contains food, including sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet treats nearing their sell-by date, available at a reduced price.
Through saving five million Magic Bags of surplus food from going to waste, Greggs and Too Good To Go have collectively helped to avoid the equivalent CO2e emissions that it takes to fly around the world 2,346 times.
Greggs and Too Good To Go are now exploring new ways to help save even more great food from going to waste, with an exciting new Surprise Bag trial starting at the end of May, in select locations across the East of England.
The collaboration also supports the Greggs Pledge, the company鈥檚 10-point sustainability plan which includes a commitment to reduce food surplus by 25% compared to 2018 levels. The landmark comes five months after Greggs reached a major milestone after 鈥 420 tonnes of surplus food 鈥 to charities and community groups across the 海角视频.
The firm reached the goal through its partnership with FareShare, the 海角视频鈥檚 biggest food redistribution charity.
A spokesperson from Greggs said: 鈥淎t Greggs, we believe great food should never go to waste, and hitting the milestone of five million Surprise Bags saved with Too Good To Go is something we鈥檙e incredibly proud of. This partnership supports our Greggs Pledge to reduce food surplus and make a positive impact on the planet. Together with Too Good To Go, we鈥檙e helping to fight food waste while offering our customers great value every day.鈥
Sophie Trueman, country director 海角视频 and Ireland, Too Good To Go, said: 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 be prouder of this milestone of five million Surprise Bags saved with Greggs. Reducing food waste is a real team effort and it鈥檚 only made possible by working with partners like this iconic British food brand. Every bag saved moves us one step closer to tackling climate change and we are thankful to our partner and consumers for being part of that journey.鈥
Since its launch in 2016, Too Good To Go has helped to save more than 400m meals in total from going to waste in partnership with much-loved brands including Burger King, Yo! Sushi, Gail鈥檚, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Greene King, Aldi, Morrisons, Pret and M&B, with more than 100 million active global users.
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