Saving food surplus and developing new business models: Exploring the potential of ‘Too Good To Go’ at territorial level using web-scraped data

Food surplus, fit for consumption, is often excluded from the consumption loop for commercial reasons, leading to wasted food, nutrients, resources, and costs. Digital innovations with diverse business models aim to combat this through food redistribution. However, it is critical to assess their effectiveness from stakeholder and consumer perspectives, meanwhile, new research focuses on the value of these business models.

This study employs web scraping technology to collect multi-dimensional data from two Italian cities on Too Good To Go. The analysis results confirm its positive contribution to food surplus redistribution with economic benefits, despite a weaker presence of certain food establishment types and a lack of social motivation among consumers. Furthermore, strong business-customer relationships can be established when businesses commit to reducing food waste and effectively communicate with their customers using the platform.