Food-waste apps offer relief as SNAP uncertainty grows for millions of Californians

CALIFORNIA — As the 2025 government shutdown continues, federal funding shortfalls are putting pressure on food assistance programs.

Nearly 5.38 million Californians who depend on SNAP benefits could face delays or interruptions in payments as early as November.

In this environment, many consumers may search for alternative ways to purchase food affordably. For food businesses managing surplus inventory, there’s both a challenge and an opportunity.

Food-waste apps connect restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries with consumers by offering surplus goods at steep discounts.

Businesses register as partners, list available surplus items or “surprise bags,” set pickup windows, and convert potential waste into revenue.

Apps for discounted food

Too Good To Go, the world’s largest surplus food marketplace, added over 5,000 new business partners in the past year, growing its network to include national brands like Whole Foods Market, Circle K, and Eataly, as well as regional favorites such as Golden Corral and Peet’s Coffee.

In addition to Too Good To Go, here are a few other apps in the U.S. market for surplus food rescue and discounting:

Flashfood – Grocery-store-based app offering discounted items nearing their best-before dates with in-store pickup.
Olio – Food-sharing platform where businesses and individuals list excess food for free pickup or at low cost.

149 billion meals go to waste in the U.S. annually

Every year, 38% of food produced in the U.S. goes to waste—equal to nearly 149 billion meals.

Too Good To Go reported saving more than 8.1 million meals in the first seven months of 2025 via its U.S. partner network of over 17,000 food-business partners

Meijer, a large Midwestern grocery chain, announced that its customers have diverted 10 million pounds of potentially wasted food through the Flashfood app as of October 2023.