THE chance to get a bag filled with food at a bargain price from a well-known cafe and restaurant sounds like a great idea.
Too Good to Go is an app that sells 'Magic bags' filled with unsold and surplus food from chains and independent restaurants that would have otherwise been thrown away.
The bags tend to go like hotcakes (sometimes literally) so after watching the app for the past two days, I was finally quick enough to order one of the three remaining magic bags from Starbucks.
Although you can't pick what goes inside the bag, you can choose between vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
I missed this option and failed to secure a vegetarian bag, but in my defence, when anyone asks me if I'm vegetarian I always say "I try my best".
The app lets you reserve the bag and gives you a half-hour slot towards the end of the day to pick up your delivery.
As soon as you get to the counter, open up the app and click the button that says 'collect my bag' and then swipe a toggle button to the right once the bag has been handed to you.
Once the magic bag had been secured and safely seated on my desk, everybody in the office was quite excited to delve inside.
Inside the magic bag, we got four items, including paninis, toasties and a plant-based cake.
Tuna Melt Panini - £5.20
When given the option, I like to actively avoid tuna. But the food did not go to waste as luckily one of my colleagues was happy to take the tuna panini.
Smoked Bacon Roll - £4.25
Next up, there was a smoked bacon roll that was originally priced at £4.25.
Hickory Ham and Cheese Toastie - £5.20
You can't go wrong with a Ham and Cheese toastie (unless you're vegetarian.)
Priced at £5.20, which is more than the bag cost as a whole, the magic bag felt pretty worth it at this point.
Carrot Cake (plant-based) - £2.49
A magic bag can't be complete without a dessert. Ours contained a plant-based carrot cake.
In case you were wondering, the content of the magic bag cost £17.14, but through the app, we got it for £4.50.
You can download the app Too Good To Go to try it out for yourself.
Overall, it was a great idea and I felt I got value for money - even if I wouldn't have chosen a tuna sandwich usually.
Taking what would have been food thrown in the bin and finding a good home for it is a great idea - but would I have chosen these items?
Probably not.
However, I don't feel short-changed and I am looking forward to seeing what is in my next bag.
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