Londoners could rescue over 260,000 meals this Stop Food Waste Day
- Over 260,000 meals going to waste every day in London
- Join the movement on Stop Food Waste Day April 27th by rescuing a meal
- Food waste costing London businesses over £1.8 million a week
Food establishments across London[1] are throwing away a staggering 265,096 perfectly edible meals every day, according to findings by the online marketplace for surplus food, Too Good To Go. To bring this issue to light, Too Good To Go is challenging Londoners to join them in rescuing every single meal available across the Capital on the official Stop Food Waste Day, Friday 27th April 2018.
To put this waste into an environmental context, if these meals are saved from landfill the impact on CO2 emissions would be equivalent to taking 114 cars off the road each day[2]. When calculated globally, the effect of food waste is so severe that if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China.
Aside from the toll on our planet, there are considerable financial implications for businesses in London with figures released by Wrap suggesting that the average waste disposal cost per meal is 97p. The total cost of food waste for outlets is around £257,143 a day, or a staggering £1,800,002 a week across the capital.
It’s not just businesses paying the price. Data from money saving bot Plum suggests that Londoners are spending an average of £43.75 a week eating out - that’s £54,925,000 a day.
Trying the Too Good To Go app means that stores, customers and the environment win together. ~For example, buying a meal from any Yo! Sushi store on Too Good To Go costs £3.50 for £12.50 worth of food. If everyone swapped a meal a week for a surplus meal there’s a potential saving of £9 a week to be made or £468 a year.
To date, Londoners have rescued over 63,000 meals from food retailers including Yo! Sushi, Chop’d, Hummus Bros and the Sofitel and Pullman hotels via the free Too Good To Go app - the CO2 equivalent of growing 3,269 trees for 10 years.
James Denis, a regular waste warrior, said: “It’s great food at a great price and it’s so local. Food waste is something we need to combat and to be able to get fresh food when you’re feeling a bit peckish is amazing!”
Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go, explains:
“More than an easy way to get delicious food, Too Good To Go is a catalyst to changing mindsets. What we perceive to be waste often isn't actually “waste” at all - it's perfectly good food that gets thrown away because it wasn’t sold. If every store in London joined the platform and everyone living here rescued just one meal a month through Too Good To Go, there would be no retail food waste in the Capital - imagine that!”
[1] According to data from Too Good To Go and the Food Standards Agency (average meals across Too Good To stores x number of food establishments registered with the FSA)
[2] https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
Notes to editor:
About Too Good To Go
Too Good To Go is the world’s largest online marketplace for surplus food. Our mission is to create a world where all food produced is food consumed. Our free app connects food retailers with surplus food available with local consumers who purchase, collect and enjoy it. Too Good To Go operates in eight countries and has saved over 3.9m meals globally. In the UK over 160,000 meals have been saved to date. Find out more at www.toogoodtogo.co.uk
Stats acquired from
Too Good To Go:
Average meals available per store in London - 6.5 (March 2018)
Plum:
Customers average £350 a month PP eating out in London (Jan + Feb 2018)
= £43.75 a week eating out
= £54,925,000 a day based on a population of 8.7 million
FSA:
All food establishments in London - 40,784 - http://ratings.food.gov.uk/
WRAP:
Wrap predicts 97p waste disposal costs per plate - http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/The%20True%20Cost%20of%20Food%20Waste%20within%20Hospitality%20and%20Food%20Service%20Sector%20FINAL.pdf
agrover@toogoodtogo.co.uk
07984828923
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