‘Too Good To Go’ Initiative Helps Fight Food Waste

Our corporate purpose is to provide authentic, memorable experiences, excitement and, of course, lots of fun to our guests across generations while always contributing to the growth of our communities and partners. Serving this purpose means that we commit to make today’s remarkable experiences possible tomorrow by actively protecting the planet. Our parks are involved in minimizing food waste, given its impact on climate change and our commitment to protect the planet.

Although hunger is a global problem, affecting an increasing number of people, estimates show that 40% of global food production goes to waste yearly, equating to 2.5 billion tons of food. As well as costing 1.2 trillion dollars a year, food waste is responsible for 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions, affecting climate change and the protection of the world’s fauna and flora. There is no point sugar-coating the problem. Therefore, a collective effort is needed to change this situation.

Awareness on food waste is increasing, as shown during the recent Food Waste Action Week 2023, and we would like to contribute by sharing two innovative initiatives carried out by Madrid Zoo and Tusenfryd, encouraging visitors to think about their actions and find new ways to help reduce food loss and waste.

What is the ‘Too Good To Go’ app?

Have you ever thought of how much food goes to waste in restaurants? You may want to help but don’t know how. To make things a little easier, Zoo Aquarium Madrid has decided to be part of the Too Good To Go initiative, a mobile app which enables visitors to buy Surprise Bags with surplus food from restaurants and stores at a reduced cost, provides more jobs to the community, reduces food waste and makes a positive contribution to the environment.

What better way to enjoy delicious, scrumptious food for the whole family at excellent prices while also helping the environment? It’s a win-win situation! Read on to see how visitors can be part of the solution to saving the planet while enjoying and learning about conservation at Madrid Zoo.

To join the Too Good To Go scheme, all visitors have to do is download the app for free on their Android or iOS device. Once they have registered, they can see on the map which nearby restaurants, stores and supermarkets have offers available.

To get their own Surprise Pack, visitors must search the app for ‘Zoo Aquarium Madrid’ and find which of their favorite restaurants has tasty Surprise Packs waiting for them to pick them up. So as not to risk disappointment, visitors should go for their packs close to the park’s closing time. Visitors also don’t need to worry about how they will pick up their packs if they aren’t inside the Zoo, since everyone is allowed to get their pack from the designated, outside pick-up point.

How TusenFryd Park’s management is making a difference

Another tactic to reduce food waste has been implemented by TusenFryd, the largest amusement park in Norway, that is part of the KuttMatsvinn project, which aims to halve Norway’s food waste by 2030 and contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainability Goal. It’s no surprise, then, that TusenFryd is one of Parques Reunidos Group’s points of pride.

To successfully cut down on food waste, the restaurant’s seasonal supervisory team has been specifically trained to apply new processes and report waste daily using different digital codes. For example, orders may include formal notes such as ‘made too much’ or ‘ordered too much’. Then, before the end of each month, the food and beverage manager produces a report so that department supervisors can take action towards reducing the waste of restaurant food.

And if you’re asking if TusenFryd will also have The Too Good to Go app available this summer (starting April 29th), the answer to that is ‘yes’. It absolutely will and is looking forward to welcoming like-minded guests whose priority is to have fun but also protect the environment. Last, but definitely not least, visitors will have the opportunity to purchase food with a short and expired shelf life by accessing a fridge at one of the parks’ POS points. It is important to remember that visitors can access this point only during the final hour the park is open.

These are all small steps, but they are, without a doubt, steps in the right direction. Apart from reducing food waste and helping the planet, these parks’ actions aim to put a smile on all people’s faces, make an inexpensive, tasty meal available to them and provide them with a wonderful day out at the park.

Too Good to Go began in Denmark in 2016 and has already spread rapidly throughout Europe. It currently has more than 10 million users and has become the world’s largest B2C platform for selling daily surplus food and connecting users with hundreds of businesses offering surplus food. Parques Reunidos Group is recommending businesses and users get on board and join the Too Good To Go Scheme. For more information visit https://www.toogoodtogo.com/en-us