Get restaurant leftovers for as little as £2

Restaurants throw tonnes of good food away each year, but new app Too Good to Go, which connects customers with venues with surplus food, is changing all that. And in the process, you can purchase a restaurant quality meal for as little as £2.

Since its launch in June last year, ‘TGTG has saved over 8,000 meals from heading to landfill unnecessarily in Brighton, Birmingham, London and Leeds,’ reads a statement on the company’s website. With Manchester now part of its reach, they hope to help save a lot more.

“Food belongs in bellies, not bins”

Co-founder Chris Wilson reckons the city was the natural next step in their expansion. “We’ve had a great response from [Manchester] restaurants and customers so far,” says Wilson, “and can’t wait to engage with the waste-conscious community in the city even further. Our mission is to place the lost value back onto food as something which belongs in bellies, not bins –­ all the while helping local restaurants and businesses to thrive.”

One of the first Manchester eateries to sign up to the programme was the Northern Quarter’s Foundation Coffee. “We’re very much looking forward to seeing less of our great products head for the bin and instead to customers, which is where they belong,” said Kevin McCauley, the cafe’s manager. “Too Good To Go provides an easily usable interface through which restaurants and consumers can both benefit and we hope to see other Manchester eateries join with us in tackling waste.”

New Manchester venues are joining the app daily, with Soup Kitchen, Ezra and Gil, Nine, Efes Taverna, Red Hot World Buffet, China Buffet and Chopstix among the venues already signed up.

And it’s not all about getting a discount price at your favourite restaurants: Too Good To Go also offers a ‘pay it forward’ scheme, which allows users to donate meals to homeless people and others in need via the app for as little as £1.

To find out more and get the app, head to toogoodtogo.co.uk