To continue its mission of tackling food waste, Pret A Manger and leading surplus food app, Too Good To Go, have today announced a joint partnership.
Following a successful trial across 30 shops, the partnership means that every Pret shop that sells hot food is now live on the Too Good To Go app. All Magic Bags purchased through the app will be entirely made up of unsold hot food items, which are not able to be redistributed through The Pret Foundation to local charities and communities.
Since opening its doors, Pret’s food has been made fresh in its kitchens at the start of each day, and Pret is committed to helping those most in need by donating unsold items when shops close each evening. What started as just a handful of sandwiches has now grown to over 7 million food items globally in 2020.
To further tackle food waste, Pret has partnered with Too Good To Go to ensure that unsold hot food doesn’t go to waste. Those in need will also still benefit through 50% of the proceeds going directly to The Pret Foundation, continuing Pret’s mission to tackle poverty, hunger and homelessness.
To date over 19,700 Magic Bags of food have been rescued by hungry consumers, saving over 49,345kg of CO2e from being wasted. The ambition is that the extended partnership will result in 1055 tonnes of CO2e being saved each year.
Leading the food waste movement, Too Good To Go lets people buy surplus food and drink from restaurants, grocery stores, pubs, cafes and producers to stop it from going to waste.
Consumers can simply download the free Too Good To Go app and search for their nearby Pret with unsold hot food. They then purchase a Magic Bag, collect it at an allotted time and enjoy it. The Pret Magic Bags contain a variety of surplus hot food throughout the day.
Breakfast Magic Bags are available to rescue on the app for £3 and Lunch and Dinner Magic Bags are priced at £4. All Magic Bags contain food worth at least three times the value of the Magic Bag.
Ellen Jones, Global Head of Sustainability of Pret A Manger, said, “We’re excited to be partnering with Too Good To Go to continue our efforts to tackle food waste.
'At Pret, one of our core values is doing the right thing and this is underpinned by the Pret Foundation and donating our unsold food to local charities at the end of each day.
'Through this new partnership, we are excited to expand our efforts to reduce food waste by safely distributing our growing range of hot food items through the Too Good To Go Magic Bag collections.”
Paschalis Loucaides, UK Managing Director at Too Good To Go, said, “I’m thrilled to have rolled out our partnership with Pret.
'Pret has a long-standing reputation for doing the right thing and already does a fantastic job at making sure their unsold fresh food is redistributed through The Pret Foundation at the end of each day. However, hot food poses more of a challenge and this is where we are able to help.
'Our nationwide community of Waste Warriors are ready and waiting to snap up the Pret Magic Bags on our app to ensure that this hot food is eaten and enjoyed instead of wasted.
'Reducing food waste is the number one solution to tackling climate change and together with Pret we can take even bigger strides to ensure food is not wasted and protect the future of our planet.”
The Too Good To Go partnership is just one of many sustainability initiatives introduced by Pret as part of its broader strategy to help those most in need and tackle food waste.
