Food bank, food sharing, Too Good To Go and ResQ Club: Which solution is best for my restaurant?

In Germany, tons of food are wasted every year. According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the annual food waste in Germany amounts to 12 million tons. One of the main causes is the overproduction of food in restaurants, bakeries and supermarkets. In addition to various ways to plan food consumption and thus avoid food waste in restaurants, there are also good initiatives and apps to recycle food without having to throw it away. We show you which alternatives there are and which is best for whom.

1. the Tafel

The Tafel is a non-profit organization that collects food from restaurants, supermarkets, wholesalers and producers and passes it on to those in need. The aim of the food banks is to reduce food waste by companies or individuals and at the same time help people in need. People in need can obtain food from the food bank by presenting proof of eligibility. This ensures that people really do need it.

Food that is no longer needed, such as baked goods, fruit and vegetables with minor blemishes, packaged goods with an approaching best-before date, in exceptional cases also with an expired best-before date, seasonal items after the end of the season (e.g. chocolate Easter bunnies or barbecue sauces) and refrigerated and frozen products can be donated to the food bank. It is difficult with open fresh goods, leftovers from buffets and goods with an expired use-by date and alcoholic drinks; these goods cannot be accepted by the Tafel and must be recycled elsewhere.

In order to donate to the Tafel as a restaurant or company, you must register your restaurant with the Tafel. The easiest way to do this is to contact the Tafel in your area. If a donation is made, you will be asked to sort your remaining food so that Tafel employees can collect it directly from you.

Advantages & disadvantages of the Tafel

Advantages:

• The Tafel is an established organization that has a network of volunteers who distribute the food almost everywhere in Germany.
• The leftover food is not only saved from going to waste, but also goes to people in need who really need it and don't normally have the opportunity to buy food for a balanced diet.
• The food is donated, meaning there is no cost to your restaurant.

Disadvantages:

• The food bank has no capacity to sort the goods. If you want to donate food to the food bank as a restaurant, it has to be sorted by your restaurant.
• Restaurants or hotels that have leftover food from the buffet cannot donate it to the food bank.
• By passing on food via a third party, the food bank, you as the restaurant owner do not come into contact with the end consumer.

2. foodsharing

Foodsharing is an initiative that also campaigns against food waste and is a good complement to the food bank. Similar to the food bank, the people who make use of food sharing are usually dependent on it. Unlike the food bank, no one has to provide proof of need and anyone who is not in need can take part in food sharing.

Supermarkets, bakeries and even private individuals can donate food that is still edible. Volunteer "food savers" collect the food from you and distribute it to associations, food banks, soup kitchens, interested parties from the food sharing network and publicly accessible food distributors for self-service. Interested parties can then collect and use this food.

Food sharing is also a good option for restaurants to avoid wasting food. After contacting us by email, the initiative will discuss with you individually when they will collect your surplus food. You don't have to worry about anything else. The food sharing team will take care of sorting and distribution. Leftover food can be offered on the platform. Foodsharing's legal agreement allows you to donate food that cannot be donated to the food bank. In this way, Foodsharing tries to make full use of all surplus food.

Advantages & disadvantages of food sharing

Advantages:

• Foodsharing takes care of everything. From collecting it from your restaurant to distributing it to people in need, relatives and filling Foodsharing's publicly accessible food distributors.
• As a supplement to the food bank, Foodsharing takes the work off your hands by collecting the food that can be donated to the food bank from your restaurant and sorting it for you.
• Foodsharing works together with Tafel or Foodsharing passes on to Tafel
• Donate food to the needy and non-needy.

Disadvantages:

• You are dependent on the efforts of the food sharing community in your area. If the food distributors are not maintained, they will be closed by Foodsharing in case of doubt and there will be fewer opportunities to distribute the food.

3 Too Good To Go

Too Good To Go is an app that allows you to sell leftover food from your restaurant at a discounted price and reduce food waste in restaurants and businesses. Leftover food can be offered via the app, which can generate additional revenue and attract food rescuers to your restaurant. However, it is also important to note that the food must be collected within a certain time window, which can be freely chosen by the restaurant.

It is a good idea to choose a collection time shortly before or at closing time, as it is easy to estimate how many portions of food will be left over at the end of the day and can be released for sale in the app. As the restaurant owner, you can set the price of your portions in the app. As a rule, a third of the original value of the goods is selected as a guideline for the price of the portions. However, you can also set completely free prices.

As soon as you have released one or more portions for sale, customers can purchase your portions in the app. Customers pay for the portions via the app and Too Good To Go pays you your turnover on a quarterly basis. The important thing for you as a seller is that using Too Good To Go incurs costs for your restaurant. You have to pay a commission per portion sold and an annual fee to Too Good To Go from the turnover you generate via the app. The commission is 1.09 € per portion and the annual fee is 39 €. A portion with an original value of 12 €, for example, could be offered by you in the app for 4 €. After paying the commission, you would still have 2.91 €. So after the 14th portion sold in a year, you would have paid back the annual fee of 39 € and would even make a small profit from selling leftover food.

Advantages & disadvantages of Too Good To Go

Advantages:

• You can offer any food that is still edible, whether it's ready-to-eat food, leftovers from the buffet or leftover fresh produce with small imperfections.
• The app is well known, especially among young people, and can help to attract new customers.
• You sell your surplus food for a small price.
• You come into direct contact with the people who pick up the food from your restaurant.

Disadvantages:

• You have to pay a levy in the form of an annual fee of 39 € and a commission of 1.09 € per portion sold to Too Good To Go.
• The app could be a barrier and inaccessible to certain groups of people.
• If food is not picked up or not all portions are sold, you are left with the food.

4 ResQ Club

ResQ Club is another option for restaurants to sell leftover food and thus reduce food waste in the food service industry. The Finnish company works with restaurants and cafés to sell their leftover food to interested customers. Restaurants can offer their leftover food directly via the ResQ Club app, which can then be collected by customers. With ResQ Club, payment is also made via the app and the company pays you your sales on a monthly basis. Unlike Too Good To Go, ResQ Club has no usage fee. ResQ Club only incurs costs in the form of a commission of 25% of the net turnover of your sales via the app. So if you don't sell anything via ResQ Club, you don't have to pay anything to ResQ Club.

Advantages & disadvantages of ResQ Club

Advantages:

• So far only available in Berlin, be the first restaurant in your city!
• ResQ Club has no usage fee and you earn from the first portion sold.

Disadvantages:

• There is a commission of 25% of the net turnover of the portion sold.
• Barely known app, stands in the shadow of competitor Too Good To Go.
• The app could be a barrier and inaccessible to certain groups of people.

Our recommendation

No matter which way you end up saving the remaining food from going to waste. All of them offer a better alternative than the garbage can. But which is the best solution for your restaurant?

If you have a restaurant or café that prepares its own food and has mainly unprocessed ingredients that do not need to be refrigerated and are no longer suitable for sale, and if you have time to sort the surplus food and are particularly keen to help people in need, then we recommend the food bank.

If you offer a lavish buffet and/or have processed food left over as surplus, as is often the case in hotels, for example, it is advisable to resell the food using one of the two apps, Too Good To Go or ResQ Club, to save it from going to waste. You will have recouped the costs after the 14th portion sold at the latest and can then even make a small profit.

Our Pro Tip: A combination of several ways. If you want to donate to people in need, but also want to pass on processed food so that nothing is left over, then first choose the food bank or food sharing to donate the unprocessed food. You can then still offer and sell the goods that the Tafel and Foodsharing do not accept for logistical and hygiene reasons for a small amount of money via Too Good To Go or ResQ Club.

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