I lived off TooGoodToGo in Aberdeen for a day - here's how much money I saved

Press and Journal

a day ago

In a bid to save some money – and reduce some food waste along the way – I've been trying out TooGoodToGo in Aberdeen for around a year now.
The app allows you to purchase food at a discounted rate that would otherwise go to waste.
You can find Aberdeen businesses like J.G. Ross, Grub Fresh Food and Parkhill Garden Centre on the app, as well as bigger chains like Greggs, Toby Carvery, Pret, Starbucks and Yo! Sushi.
But how much money does it actually save you?
To find out, I spent a day in Aberdeen buying breakfast, lunch and dinner from different shops, cafes and hotels around the city via TooGoodToGo.
So how did it go and how much money did I save?
The app is pretty easy to navigate, and I've had good experiences with it in the past on the whole.
When you open the app, you can choose between various spots around Aberdeen, which are all given ratings from previous customers. J.G Ross Bakers on the High Street has 4.6 stars, for example.
Each of these places offers different kinds of orders, from a cold food bag, goodie bag, grocery surprise bag, breakfast and more.
To order, you choose a venue, reserve a bag and go ahead and collect it within the specified time slot.
The only thing is that working 9-5 can make the pick-up times tricky, unless you manage to find a lunchtime or evening slot.
Also it is key to note that you can't choose what you get, it's always a surprise selection of food that would otherwise be going to waste.
For breakfast, I went for The Station Hotel on Guild Street.
This cost me just and the app promised 'English breakfast classics' plus a few extras from the continental offering depending on what was leftover.
At the hotel, I'm told this usually costs £10 if you're a hotel resident. So using the app I saved £6.90.
It's a speedy collection and I head home with my wee breakfast, excited to see what's inside my bag.
Inside, there's a Tupperware absolutely stuffed with leftover breakfast grub: think black pudding, tattie scones, scrambled egg, beans, bacon, fried egg, tomato and more.
Plus there are two mini croissants and a pain au raisin as well.
It is anything but wee.
Of course the leftover buffet food needs reheated before I eat it. I'm admittedly a little wary thinking of how many people have fiddled with the food with their tongs that morning.
It tastes okay though, but having all the food squashed together has made the scrambled eggs and tattie scone a bit soggy.
This is great value for money: a lot cheaper than going to the buffet yourself, or buying all the different elements individually.
Though I probably wouldn't recommend this if you're a picky eater.
5/5
3/5
For lunch, I'd reserved one burrito bag (meat) from FreshMex for.
Take heed, you often need to keep an eye on the app the day before or first thing in order to reserve from somewhere you're keen on.
Good, local places like this are often snapped up pretty quickly.
It's a breeze again picking this up, and the bag I take home is noticeably heavy.
Inside, there's tortilla chips (usually £2.95 for a portion) and a large burrito (usually £12.45).
Using the app saved me £8.91.
Again, I've got to reheat this. So I pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and already the smell fills up my kitchen.
The burrito is packed with the unusual combination of haggis and chicken, plus all the usual fillings like rice, jalapeños, grilled peppers and onions.
I'd never have gone for haggis and chicken for a burrito filling normally, so I am grateful to the app for taking away my choice – it was very, very tasty. And super filling.
It was delicious and packed with heat too. The issue with the app is that you can't specify what you do or don't like, so if someone wasn't a jalapeno fan they couldn't order a burrito without them. You get what you're given. But this worked for me!
This actually made two meals because the burrito was so chunky. My lucky boyfriend got the other half.
Sadly though, the tortilla chips were stale.
5/5
4/5
With leftovers aplenty and very satisfied already, I reserved my dinner TooGoodToGo order from JK Fine Foods on Chattan Place.
This surprise bag was the priciest of the day, at.
I collected it from the friendly staff with no issues, and headed home to see what the bag contained.
Inside, there was a huge JK signature steak pie (usually £11.25), plus a macaroni pie from The Bread Guy (usually £3.50) and a Cadbury's Starbar (usually £1).
Through the app, I saved a very decent £8.26.
The steak pie was absolutely delicious. The shortcrust pastry topping was perfectly fluffy, and hid a huge volume of soft and flavourful steak and gravy beneath.
I shared the chocolate bar with my boyfriend and I stuck the pie in the freezer to enjoy at a later date. The issue with the app can sometimes be that they give you too much food, and with a best-before date usually of that day, it can be tricky to get through it all.
So usually we end up freezing some of the food, or donating it to friends and family.
5/5
5/5
If I was buying all the food without the app, it would have cost me a whopping total of
I saved in total using the app, which is a great deal.
All the food cost me for three meals.
This doesn't sound cheap, but bear in mind the breakfast was definitely enough for two people, as was the large burrito, and we both shared the steak pie.
I will definitely keep using the TooGoodToGo app. It makes me feel like I'm doing my bit – in a small way – to help reduce waste. Plus, it helps me save money too, and it's extra money for local businesses.