The cost of food shopping is a constant worry for many families, as prices across the country continue rise. However, Caitlin Saunders, 23, a team leader from Shropshire, is a huge fan of the Too Good To Go app, which allows shoppers to buy heavily discounted food that would otherwise end up in the bin.
Caitlin, who regularly reviews her Too Good To Go finds on YouTube, has bagged £23 of Greggs food for £3, £15 of Planet Doughnut doughnuts for £6.50, and a £3.29 Toby Carvery bag worth £7.29 using the app. As she told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "I heard about the Too Good To Go app last January. I saw a couple of YouTube videos on it and I thought why not give it a go?
"I put my first order in April last year and I do it a few times a month depending on work. Every night at about 5 or 5:30 pm you have to look on the app and they put all the Too Good To Go bags on there.
"Everyone asks how I manage to get them because they go so fast but I always seem to manage to get one when I want one. I just think it’s a nice treat really and for £2.95 you really can’t go wrong. You then go and collect it and hope for the best.
"You just swipe the app in front of the store assistant and they hand it over to you. It’s so nice and easy, and it prevents waste.
“One of my best bags has been from Greggs. It had a four-pack of jam doughnuts, a tuna sandwich, a tuna roll, an egg mayo sandwich, a vegan ham and cheese baguette, a jammy heart, a chicken bake, steak bake, vegan sausage roll, a little cupcake and a croissant. I paid £2.95 and it was probably worth about £23. That’s just insane. Sometimes they're so good, sometimes not so good. It just all depends really on what they’ve got to waste.
"It’s so exciting to buy these because it’s like a lucky dip really. You just don’t know what you're going to find and it saves it from going in the bin.
"I think if you're on there for about 5 to 5:30 every night you should be able to grab them. Most of them around my area go on there for about that time.
"The Greggs bags are supposed to be worth about £8.80 but most of the time are worth so much more. I want to try and get some more Costa ones too now because I love their toasties. I freeze quite a lot of them too, they're so handy to have in the freezer. Just chuck them in the air fryer for 10 minutes & you're good to go.
"I mainly get Greggs ones now because I feel like they do have the best stuff. I think it’s a good idea because you're saving the waste and also getting some good bargains. It’s a really good thing they're doing and I personally love it.
"I love sharing what I get and if I don’t like it or am not going to eat it then I give it to my friends and family as well."
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Recent figures show that the UK produces the highest amount of food waste in Europe, throwing away around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in a single year. Apps like Too Good To Go are helping to reduce the amount of food that gets thrown away - while giving shoppers like Caitlin incredible bargains at the same time. It’s a win-win.”
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