SPAR's partnership with social impact company Too Good To Go, has saved 3.5 million meals from going to waste in 14 countries. Since the launch of the international partnership in 2020, over 3,000 SPAR stores have actively been curbing food waste with the innovative digital solution across 14 SPAR countries. This has supported Too Good To Go’s recent global milestone of having saved 200 million meals.

In line with SPAR’s ethos of ‘Better Together,’ Too Good To Go’s app solution enables customers to pick up bags filled with quality products close to their expiry date at a much-reduced price, thereby helping SPAR reduce food waste. This option has proven to be particularly impactful for fresh food and short shelf-life items.

In September 2022, SPAR announced the milestone of having saved 2.5 million meals across fourteen European markets. Since then, increased uptake by independent SPAR retailers in these markets have brought this consumer-facing food waste option to even more of our shoppers.

Continuous growth

After rolling out the Too Good To Go solution in October 2021, SPAR Austria has saved over 1,5 million meals from going to waste across 1,012 SPAR, EUROSPAR, and INTERSPAR stores nationwide. Following this success, INTERSPAR Austria is extending the cooperation to all 54 INTERSPAR restaurants throughout Austria. It is a first that customers can save ready-made meals from going to waste whilst saving money as these meals can be picked up for only €4.99 compared to the original selling price of €15.

SPAR UK has saved more than 580,000 meals from going to waste across 684 stores across the United Kingdom since utilising the Too Good To Go solution. This has been supported by SPAR UK partners CJ Lang and James Hall, who have rolled out the solution to all 107 and 150 corporate-owned stores respectively. SPAR Norway has, since April 2023, started trialing the Too Good To Go solution in eight stores across Norway.

“SPAR’s international partnership with Too Good To Go began in December 2020 and has grown steadily, being available today to SPAR customers in 14 European markets. This partnership highlights our multi-solution approach to supply chain waste reduction and our commitment to our shoppers to offer innovative digital solutions that help them to shop sustainably. We thank our retailers and customers for embracing the innovative platform from social impact company, Too Good Go To, which makes a difference in the impact of food production on the environment”, said SPAR International’s CEO Tobias Wasmuht.

Mette Lykke, CEO of Too Good To Go, highlighted the significant impact of their partnership with SPAR retailers on the environment and local communities: “Together with SPAR we’ve saved over 3.5 million Surprise Bags (the equivalent of three thousand tons of good food), and we have provided discounted meals to local communities which helps slow global warming. This big milestone is a testament to our shared commitment to sustainability and our ability for businesses to influence positive change together”.

Read more about SPAR’s overall responsible retailing strategy and the areas we focus on within our environmental impact reduction programme.

Watch a video on this important milestone here.

Sources: SPAR Austria, SPAR UK, SPAR Norway, TooGoodToGo