Looking for a way to help both the planet and your own budget? Here are two no-food-waste apps that will help you spend 50-75 percent less on a meal or a surprise bag of groceries, from pre-club-night tacos to dainty French pastries.
Saving meals since 2016, Too Good to Go is known for its mystery bags. Restaurants and grocery stores fill them with an assortment of whatever goods they deem no longer sellable, but are definitely still edible. Bakeries and restaurants give away anything left at the end of the day, whereas grocery stores will donate Lebensmittel near, but not past, their sell-by date. While every bag is different, pricing is fair, quantities are generous and the quality is high.
Jump on Too Good To Go and ResQ while they’re still the semi-secret gems of the sustainable food scene in Berlin
A €4 bag from Bäckerei Backfee yields two baguettes and a box of rolls, three croissants, a pastry with a fruity filling and a caprese sandwich. A €3.90 bag from Denn’s Biomarkt contains herbs, mushrooms, a bunch of radishes and plenty of apples. Fancy gourmet breakfast buffet leftovers for €4 while working from home? Swing by Hotel Orderberger in Prenzlauer Berg and Leonardo Royal Hotel on Alexanderplatz between 10:50 and 11am, and don’t forget to bring your own containers! More of a late night snacker? Dominos and Taco Love sell €3 meal bags between 10:30 and 10:40pm.
A newer addition to the Berlin no-food-waste scene is ResQ Club, a Finnish company with 2000 locations at home and 100 in Estonia, but only three partners in Berlin: two Edekas in Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg and one patisserie in Prenzlauerberg. Just like Too Good To Go, resq sells surprise bags containing veggies or pastries for €3 per order. To pick up your bag from 9am to 6:30pm on the day of the order, you simply show your receipt on the app to the store’s cashier. Pastry bags are filled with glutenous delights and veggie bags contain produce that has some blemishes but is still perfectly edible.
The star of the Berlin programme is top-notch French patisserie Jubel, where you can order and pick up (from 5.45 to 6.15pm) a box of finger-licking delicacies, like chocolate tarts, basil-lime balls or carrot cake for €4.50. Pro tip: show up with your own box to avoid the additional €1 packaging charge.
Our verdict is simple: jump on Too Good To Go and ResQ while they’re still the semi-secret gems of the sustainable food scene in Berlin – it will serve your dinner plate well!
