PRESS RELEASESThird of Brits waste more food at Christmas

Almost a third (29%) of British people will waste more food at Christmas time than at any other of the year, according to a new national survey.

Commissioned by the world’s largest surplus food app, Too Good To Go, the new survey revealed that food is the nation’s second favourite thing about Christmas (only beaten by spending time with friends and family). Given this, it’s perhaps no surprise that excess amounts of food is purchased, resulting in 84% of us expecting to have food leftover this Christmas.

For many of us Boxing Day leftovers are a staple of Christmas-time. According to the survey, Brits’ most popular food to repurpose at Christmas are:

- Meat or meat substitutes (45% of Brits are likely to reuse leftovers)

- Potatoes (38% of Brits repurpose this)

- Cheese (31% of Brits repurpose this)

However, the less obvious Christmas food items are being shown to fall by the wayside when it comes to food waste at Christmas. The survey revealed the nation’s top three food items that are most likely to go to waste over the festive season are:

- Yorkshire puddings (84% of those surveyed said they do not repurpose these)

- Condiments/gravy (82% fail to repurpose this)

- Crisps (80% do not repurpose this)

To help Brits know what to do with their less obvious food waste, Too Good To Go has teamed up with sandwich extraordinaire Max Halley to share a flexible recipe for the ‘Ultimate Christmas Leftovers Sandwich’. Making use of the less conventional wasted items like crisps, gravy and raw vegetable offcuts, this recipe features warm turkey trimmings, a leftover roastie-and-vegetable patty, gravy mayonnaise and crunchy vegetable slaw in a citrus dressing. Plus it’s specifically designed to be adaptable to suit whatever people might have at home.

Paschalis Loucaides, Managing Director of Too Good To Go, says, “It’s no surprise that food is one of the nation’s favourite things about Christmas and so it should be! Christmas is a time to celebrate with good food and great company. But inevitably, Christmas can also be a pretty wasteful time of year. In fact, it is reported that we see on average a 30% increase in waste over the period. When it comes to food, there are tonnes of ways we can reduce our waste and plus it means we get to prolong how long we can enjoy this delicious festive food.”

ENDS

For press enquiries including high-res imagery, interview requests, and additional tips and tricks content, contact: press@toogoodtogo.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Survey of 2,008 nationally representative UK consumers conducted by Markettiers on behalf of Too Good To Go between 09.11.21 and 15.11.21

ABOUT TOO GOOD TO GO

Too Good To Go has a simple mission: to make sure all food gets eaten, not wasted.

In 2016, a group of entrepreneurs witnessed restaurant staff throwing away fresh food. The food’s only problem? It hadn’t sold in time, and no one was around to take it off the restaurant’s hands. The group pioneered a seamless solution: an app that lists businesses’ unsold food so local diners can find, buy and enjoy it.

Now, thousands of Magic Bags are rescued from businesses such as supermarkets, restaurants, and bakeries every day. The success of the app powers Too Good To Go’s wider efforts to drive a food waste movement, working with schools, industries and governments to build a planet-friendly food system.

Too Good To Go by numbers:

17 countries

103 million meals saved globally

8.2 million meals saved in the UK

48 million app installs globally

127,000 partner stores globally

2020 became a registered B-Corp

Find out more at www.toogoodtogo.co.uk, or visit us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.