Montrealers using app to save money and reduce food waste

With the cost of living increasing, many people are trying to prevent food from being thrown in the trash.

There is now an app that connects consumers with less-than-perfect but still perfectly edible food.

Milene Laoun, owner of the Sophie Sucree vegan bakery in Montreal, said the Too Good To Go app helps her keep from throwing out food she is unable to sell over the counter.

"Everything is hand-made and there are some imperfections inevitably, so in order for us to keep our product standards high, we always weed out the ones that are less than perfect," said Laoun. "Being able to still find a channel for those to find a loving home was really important to us."

Surplus food often ends up in the garbage, so Laoun was one of many businesses using the app to avoid that waste.

"Businesses can gather their surplus and make surprise bags out of that, and consumers can access and buy it at half of the price," said Nicolas Dot, Too Good To Go's public relations manager.  

Laoun said that on a given day, there could be 10 to 40 leftover pastries that she doesn't want to throw out, "which represents two to 10 Too Good To Go boxes that we can make instead," she said.

Dot said that over two-and-a-half years, the app has saved more than 3.5 million meals in Canada.

Victoria Vonapartis is one customer who uses the app who says she has saved on her grocery budget.

"It's exciting to see things at a discounted rate; gives me an opportunity to try something new without breaking the bank," she said.

The system is also a plus for the environment.

"You're avoiding a lot of carbon dioxide emissions," said Dot. "All the carbon dioxide emissions necessary to grow and transport food to our table but also the greenhouse gasses that would be emitted in landfills, especially methane, which is 25 times more harmful for the environment than carbon dioxide."

The app's developers hope it will help Canadians shift the way they think about food. 

"There's a lot to be done in terms of awareness," said Dot.

"Prioritizing the fight against food waste is essential because we have you know when it comes to best-before dates or when it comes to forgetting items in your fridge or not shopping in your pantry -- small examples of the many things we can do every single one of us to significantly reduce the amount of food we waste."

"Food waste is really a present issue and we encourage every business that produces food to be mindful of that and try to find different avenues for minimizing waste," said Laoun.