100,000 Too Good To Go bags sold in SPAR Austria stores in just 10 weeks

December 20, 2021 IN THE CATEGORY: Environment, Responsible retailing

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SPAR Austria and social impact company Too Good To Go have successfully sold 100,000 bags of food nearing its use-by date, following the signing of a nationwide partnership in October. Within just ten weeks, 90,000 SPAR Austria customers have helped avoid about 1 million food products from going to waste and about 750 tonnes of related CO2 emissions by purchasing the bags.

The SPAR Too Good To Go food packages, named ‘Magic Bags’ on the app, can be picked up at participating SPAR Austria stores. The bags contain products nearing their sell-by dates, such as dairy, fresh produce, and baked products.

Saving food is easy

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), 1 kg of food waste creates about 2.5 kg of CO2 emissions.

Customers who want to save food and shop for groceries at a reduced cost can simply download the Too Good To Go app onto their smartphone. The available food packages can be reserved and paid for directly via the app and picked up in participating SPAR stores 30 minutes before closing time. The bags have a value of at least €15 and can be purchased for €4.99.

SPAR tackles food waste

Thanks to precise ordering, faster and more precise logistics, and price reductions shortly before the best-before date, only 1% of the food on offer at SPAR Austria stores is not sold before its sell-by date.

Some food products are donated to social markets, food banks, and other organisations that collect the goods one to five times a week. The nationwide cooperation with Too Good To Go launched in October 2021 is an important milestone in tackling food waste.

Source: SPAR Austria

About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed SPAR in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade during 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade.