Too Good To Go app aims to end food waste at Twin Cities restaurants

New food app offering deals on unsold items

A new food app is offering deals on food that goes unsold during normal business hours at restaurants in the Twin Cities.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - There's nothing quite like sinking your teeth into a freshly baked cookie, but their shelf life is limited.

Tina Rexing of T-Rex Cookie was one of the first metro businesses to sign up for Too Good To Go – an app new to Minnesota connecting customers with restaurants.

"We want to have the freshest products out there for our customers and when we had cookies that didn't sell, we were like, 'What do we do with these?'" said Rexing.

At the end of the day, app users can pick up surprise bags of food, goodies and treats at deeply discounted prices – between $5 and $7 for six cookies.

They can also filter by allergies and dietary restrictions.

The deals take a bit of strategy, with each restaurant only offering a certain number of bags every day.

"For us, it was really about trying to find a way to reuse the cookies," said Rexing. She adds the service has been wildly popular, with patrons selling out their surprise bags consistently.

The idea has proven to be a win-win, both filling bellies and clearing shelves.

"It gets new customers into our store who may have never heard of us before... if they like the cookies when they are older, they are going to love them when they are brand new!" said Rexing.

Bakeries are very popular on the app, but there are a variety of restaurants represented.