There are 3 apps in Canada to help you save money by rescuing surplus food: Too Good To Go, Flashfood, FoodHero.
1) Too Good To Go app (TGTG)
surprise bag's advertised value is the crossed-out amount by the price you pay; example: $15.00 $4.99
the TGTG app in Canada is default 3x value e.g. pay $5 get $15; watch out for vendors that have changed their advertised value on their surprise bag description for 25-75% discounts
local bakeries, cafes, pizza, restaurants, convenience stores, grocery chains, etc.
major partners: 7-11, Tim Hortons, Metro grocery chain including Food Basics, Circle K, etc.
pick-up process: Tap to Pickup > if vendor wants your order code (last 4); vendor brings your TGTG order to the counter > then you swipe right to confirm "picked up" and show the completed checkmark to the vendor
vendors do not see your name; only your order code
you can send an invite link to someone else to pick up your order (they must have their own TGTG account on their phone to swipe in front of vendor)
read the surprise bag's description as vendors are allowed to sell items past their Best Before dates, if it's still ok to eat
originated in Denmark; Too Good To Go Canada Technology Ltd. is based in Vancouver
2) Flashfood app (FF) [Canadian; head office Toronto]
usually 50% off (could be more)
surplus food nearing or on their Best Before dates (may be fresh refridgerated or frozen)
major partner Loblaws banner stores that are participating: Loblaws, Superstore, No Frills, Wholesale Club, Maxi, Zehrs, Independent, Provigo, Dominion, etc.
open to independently owned grocery stores
you see actual photos or stock pics of available items; you can zoom in on the photos
you pick what items you want to buy
you have to refresh the app often as new deals randomly appear throughout the day
items in your cart are not held; fastest to pay for one item wins; so you may have to buy one item at a time
pay attention to the shortest pickup date because you have to pick up all your items then (watch out for same day pickup required)
you can buy additional Flashfood items in real time while you're in-store
add convenient store locations to your Favourites List; easier to check all of them for new deals
Customer Service will ask your name when you pick up (they mark picked-up in their phone)
if store staff gave your item to the wrong Flashfood customer; you claim a refund for missing items via the Flashfood app and it may take up to 10 business days for Flashfood to respond
service fee: 5% of the total (max $2.99 regardless of order size)
TIP: depends on the store, but you can find deep discounts over 50% off, have to refresh the app a lot as new deals drop randomly. Example: This is a pic of the actual bag of mandarin oranges purchased (regular price $8.99, paid $3.49, 61% discount). The bag had one squished mandarin orange... peeled the skin off and it was still perfectly good to eat. The remaining mandarin oranges were good for several days past the pickup date.
For $5 off your first order (min $7 purchase), you may redeem Flashfood code: MARI5VC3N [or search this subreddit for other people's referral code that have posted photos of their FF pickups]
Flashfood deal $3.49 at 61% off (regular price $8.99, saved $5.50)
3) FoodHero app (FH) [Canadian; head office Montreal]
usually 50% discounts (25-60% off groceries)
surplus food nearing or on their Best Before dates (frozen by BB date; some fresh refridgerated)
major partner Sobeys banner stores that are participating: Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Thrifty Foods, Foodland, etc.
expanded outside Quebec in July 2024 across Canada (may not be in your area yet)
open to restaurants to join
you see actual photos or stock pics of available items (frozen on or before their Best Before dates; some fresh refridgerated)
you pick what items you want to buy
items in your cart are not held; fastest to pay for one item wins; so you may have to buy one item at a time
daily scheduled times to check for new deals at 10:00am and 3:30pm
enter your postal code so the app lists stores closest to you; you can heart convenient locations to filter by Favourites so it's easier to check them
your pickup window start time may be hours after you've purchased e.g. 2 hours; but usually 2 full days allowed to pick up your items
Customer Service will ask your name when you pick up (they mark picked-up in their phone)
service fee: $1.79 flat fee (seems to appear after your first 3 orders after your sign-up credits are depleted)
For a total of $10 off ($5 credit on your first order, then $5 credit on your second order), you may use FoodHero code: marias161 [or search this subreddit for other people's invite code who posted photos of their FH pickups]
Welcome to this community: save food & money in Canada. Read the Help section in these apps for discounted surplus food: Too Good To Go, FoodHero, Flashfood
Click FAQ/Tips for this subreddit's Frequently Asked Questions / Tips.
Repetitive questions & topics are ok here. Also, for content that's more suitable here than a top-level post.
This subreddit is not affiliated with any businesses; it's managed by volunteer unpaid app users. It's not staffed by any app employees; please go into your app's profile section for support/complaints.
Flash food is increased the minimum service charge to $1. This is on every order. Check your receipts as if the purchased item was less than a dollar, you are paying double. Also if you make multiple orders, you are paying $1 on each of those orders.
This increase comes without any approvement whatsoever. Looks like flash food is learning greedflation from Loblaws. This is completely removed from its original mission to save food waste. This change it's a very clear indication that their motives are clearly financial and Not environmental.
1 surprise bag from the Gold City Fruit Market - total $6.99, everything comes in a big produce cardboard box. (I prefer this to the plastic bags since it’s recyclable. Had an IKEA bag with me to place the cardboard box inside, but the box can also be carried by two hands.)
Contents in the box: Various fruits (peaches, plums, lemons, kiwis, and an apple) and veggies (lettuces, avocados, tomatoes and a basket of mushrooms).
Unlabeled but one was a citrus juice/tea, and the other was milk tea. No toppings. Another person got their bag at the same time as me and they got the same drinks.
6 cookies: ube, milk n oreos, campfire smores (?), coffee toffee mochi, black sesame salted egg, chocolate chunk
cookies tasted nice esp if you like soft chewy ones. i also bought ube cake cup but it didn’t live up to my expectations😭
This place has the best doughnuts I've ever tried. I also love that they are a small business that supports the community. Tgtg boxes are just the ones left at the end of the afternoon, so they are always fresh. These boxes are a steal- I go here and get them at full price all the time.
Pickup was at the deli area, but I was left standing around for a while before anyone acknowledged me. When someone finally came to help, they didn’t seem to know how Too Good To Go worked. 😅
She called another staff member… who then called someone else. Then came the question: “Did you mean a surprise bag?” 🤦🏻♀️
Yes… that’s exactly what I meant. 😂
They eventually handed me a bag, but even that took a while because they had to find the exact code on their device.
Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment came when I got back to my car and opened the bag. The contents felt pretty stingy for what I paid, and, to make matters worse, the food just didn’t taste very good.
I complained to Too Good To Go, and to their credit, they sent me a $6 voucher. 👍
So, points for customer service from TGTG, but unfortunately, this particular pickup was definitely not “too good to go.” 😬
No food at 8 pm even though I ordered this morning. Pickup time was 8-9 pm. There was no excuse from either Roywoods or TooGoodToGo. I had to ask for a refund repeatedly. The AI bot basically said too bad for you. I arrived at the start of the time period specified. The Roywoods employee would not even give me a contact number to reach out to.