This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Apps that let businesses sell surplus food at a discount in "surplus bags" have become a popular way to keep edible food out of landfills while giving consumers access to lower-cost meals and groceries. But new research from the University of New Hampshire suggests the results aren't always so straightforward.
While surplus-food platforms can benefit businesses, consumers and the environment, the researchers found that when competition becomes too intense, food waste can rise and retailer profits can fall. One reason: getting surplus food out of a store doesn't necessarily mean it all gets eaten. If consumers receive more food than they need, the extra can still end up wasted at home.
In the study published in Decision Sciences, Wei Wei, assistant professor of decision sciences, and co-author Zhangchen Hu, assistant professor at California State University, Fullerton, built a mathematical model of how retailers balance traditional in-store sales with sales of discounted surplus bags through apps such as Too Good To Go. Their analysis suggests that while the platforms can create significant benefits, those benefits depend heavily on local market conditions. "The app itself is helping, but what we're really investigating is whether it's always helping in the way it's intended," Wei says.
"The result is not automatic. Under certain scenarios, competition can benefit consumers, retailers and society, but under others, more competition may not be a good thing." Too Good To Go launched in the U.S. in late 2020 and is now used nationwide. As Wei and Hu explored the platform's challenges, they spoke with participating retailers.
"I went down to Boston and interviewed a few retailers that participate in the app. They told me it helped them clear out edible food that otherwise might have been thrown away or composted," Wei said. "But a grocery store manager in Cambridge told me participating can also be challenging.
With perishable foods such as prepared foods, baked goods and produce, they don't know how much they'll have left at the end of the day. They have to decide how many surplus bags to make available on the app before they know what their in-store demand will be." Make too many surplus bags available, and retailers risk missing higher-margin in-store purchases. Make too few available, and they may miss the chance to recover value from food that would otherwise go unsold.
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